Tsurugi no Tenrai Hogosho
by Marlowe Roxe
Summary: Naruto is taken from Konoha and is raised by a samurai in Japan, how will Konoha fare when he returns after so long? And what is this unknown swordstyle of his the "Sword of the Divine Guardian"? Read and find out in Tsurugi no Tenrai Hogosho! M for gore.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N:**

This is my first Naruto Fan Fiction. So please bear with through any mistakes in spelling, grammar, and punctuations. I have personally read many Naruto Samurai Fan fictions, and if any parts of this story resembles previous works from other authors, I am sorry in advance. Message me and I will give credit where credit is due. I'm somewhat new to the writing gig, but I am going to finish this story before moving on to one of my other story ideas (the summary for this is already written). I will try to update every few days. Now on with the disclaimer:

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**DISCLAIMER: **

Naruto is the property of Masashi Kishimoto. All characters, scenes, jutsu, and situations are property of the master Kishimoto himself. All I did was tweak a few ideas, plug in a few plot holes, and blow it to kingdom come. There will be no more disclaimers after this, So enjoy.

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"Blah" - Talking

"_Blah"_ - Thinking

"**Blah" **- Demon/Summon talking

"_**Blah" **_- Demon/Summon Thinking

"_Blah_" - Jutsus

_Begin_

If you were to ask anyone in the Elemental Nations which was the greatest, they would tell you one thing, "The Land of Fire." or, "Fire Country." as it is more commonly known by. However, everyone had a different reason why it sat firmly on the top. Some people claimed that the bountiful forests, and serene lakes were the most majestic. Some people assert that the Fire Daimyo's palace, which was the grandest of all the Daimyos' palaces in the Elemental Nations displayed their prosperity. But only the experienced know that what makes Fire Country the greatest wasn't its majestic forests or bountiful lakes, nor the lavish palace of the Daimyo's Court. What made the Land of Fire the greatest was the people, but not just any people, these were special people, these were unique individuals that carried within each and every one that special spark called the "Will of Fire." These people are called NINJA, and it is in the village of these special individuals called Konoha that our story begins, with a very special boy who is about to embark on a very special journey.

_Konoha Streets_

Panting, a desperate boy with whisker birthmarks on his cheeks runs through the back alleys of Konoha. You would figure that the boy would be happy on this day because it was October 10. The day that the Yondaime of Konoha, the strongest of all the Hokages of Konoha, killed the greatest enemy of Konoha the Kyuubi no Youko fives years prior. All day celebrations were being held to remember all the shinobi that died on that day. It was a day of joyful camaraderie, well except for one boy.

Naruto wasn't having a good day at all. He was currently being chased through a back alley of the local civilian shopping area by a group of drunken men. He didn't know why, but he was never allowed to participate in the Kyuubi Festival. So, when the Matron of the orphanage told him that he could participate, he was overjoyed.

Naruto wasn't well liked in Konoha. He wasn't sure why but every time he went into town people would glare at him. Parents would shoo him away from their kids in the park. Shop owners would run him out of their stores and it showed because all the boy wore was a pair of tattered shorts and an old shirt that started its existence white, but over the years became a dull grey and frayed at the ends. Even in the orphanage the matron would only give him the food after everyone had their fill. The other children, picking up on this hostility, learned to never associate with Naruto.

In fact the only people in all of Konoha who had even given him the time of day was the Sandaime Hokage, the leader of Konoha himself, and a nice father/daughter owners of the local ramen stand Ichiraku's Ramen. Every month the Hokage would visit Naruto and give him his monthly allowance while taking him to Ichiraku's for free food and company.

However, today when the Matron told Naruto to scram from the orphanage Naruto thought that the villagers might forget about their animosity toward him if it was on a night of celebration. _"Well bang goes that theory." _Naruto thought as he had to dodge a broken bottle shattering against a wall where his head had been prior. It hadn't taken more than asking for a stick of dango before the villagers, who had been drinking the entire day, to start chasing him.

Feeling a flair of pain in his shoulder blade Naruto takes a look and sees a kunai sticking out and thinks, _"Kuso, there must be ninja in the crowd, I have to find a place to hide before they catch me, those knives are sharp."_ Summoning a burst of energy from nowhere, Naruto rushes across the corner into an adjacent alleyway only to see that it was a dead end . _"Kuso, I need to find a place to hide."_

Looking around desperately he couldn't find anything to let him climb up the wall and onto the ninja walkway and get away from the mob. He could hear the scuttling of their feet getting closer. He saw a dumpster along a wall, and taking a deep breath be took the plunge into the bin and waited.

"Where did he go?" one of his pursuers asked the others. The group of people looked at each other in puzzlement before starting to head away from the alley. Slowly one by one everyone left until five shinobi remained easily identifiable from their green chuunin vests and hitai-ate. Finally the leader turned to the others and said, "Let's go. We'll catch that little demon next time." In a puff of smoke the shinobi disappeared from view.

Waiting a few minutes Naruto Slowly climbed out of the Dumpster and though, _Those people are crazy I need to get back to the orphanage."_ Naruto runs around the corner, but is makes an abrupt stop when he sees the five shinobi he thought had left.

"Did you think we would fall for such a rudimentary trick? We are chuunin for a reason." said the leader, a man with his hitai-ate wrapped around his shoulder and a ninjato strapped to his back. Turning to his companions he draws some shuriken and launches them at Naruto pinning him to the wall while asking, "What should we do with the little demon here, huh?"

"Let's teach the little street urchin a lesson," replied one of his companions who had his hand reaching for a kunai in his weapons pouch.

"If we do we'll need to move from the city so that ANBU don't catch us." commented another of the attackers, fiddling with a senbon that he twirled between his fingers.

"Good idea," replied the leader as he started to do handseals, "We don't want him to make a racket and get us caught." Finishing up his seals he walked to Naruto and placing his index and middle finger onto his forehead exclaiming, "_Akumu Nemuri no Jutsu_"(Nightmare Sleeping Technique). The next thing Naruto knew, darkness was overtaking him as fell into oblivion.

_Naruto's Dream scape_

Naruto looked around and all he could see was chaos. Before him stood all of Konoha surrounded in flames, the cries of dieing shinobi filled the skies as a deafening roar filled the air as killing intent washed over Naruto, freezing him in place with fear. From over his shoulder he could hear a familiar voice ringing out.

"Minato, you can't do this. This is madness." With trepidation Naruto turned his head to see a very somewhat younger Sandaime standing decked out in his shinobi finest beside a tall man who was hard to explain. He wearing a long white coat with flames crawling up the bottom under which he wore black long sleeve shirt that could be seen coming from the torn sleeves of his coat and a pair of dark navy shinobi pants. His entire presence seemed to exude strength and confidence.

"Jiji,? What are you doing here? Where am I?" Naruto asked with confusion, while the Sandaime didn't seem to register his existence.

"Use another child, or at least let me do the sealing, he should at least have his father to look after him." The Sandaime tried to reason desperately with the man.

Naruto was confused, why was the Hokage not acknowledging him? Looking at the other man, Naruto notices the bundle that was in his arms. Walking up to the duo, Naruto peer over the bundle noticing a sleeping baby's face. The baby had golden hair that seemed to radiate and his eyes were a perfect shade of ultramarine, similar to his own, which he got to see when the baby woke up to star at him intensely.

"Sarutobi, you know that I cannot ask others to do what I am not willing to do myself." The man, Minato, said to the elder of the two, no one still seemed to register that there was another presence among them other than the baby that still looked a Naruto without a word. "And frankly old man, you don't have the necessary strength to seal something that powerful. I am the Hokage and that means I'm willing to do what must be done for the good of the village."

Naruto had a realization. _"This must be the Yondaime Hokage, but this must be when he kills the Kyuubi."_ he thinks.

Passing the bundle over to Sarutobi the Minato flashes through seals before exclaiming, "_Kuchiyose no Jutsu_"(Summoning Technique). There was a big boom and out of a giant poof of smoke came the biggest toad Naruto had ever seen towered over them dressed in a hakama. Minato walked back over to Sarutobi and took the bundle into his arms and leaped up onto his head.

"Are you ready to go Gamabunta?" asked the Yondaime while they faced against the equally intimidating form of the Kyuubi .

"**As well as anyone can be bozu."**replied Gamabunta who placed his hand onto the shirasaya sword he kept on his side.

"Lets go!" yells Minato and they both launch themselves at the fox-like figure.

Naruto sways as the world around him goes fuzzy and when he rights himself, he is looking over at the remains of the battlefield. There was a charred mark upon the field that seemed to stretch for miles, and trees were toppled everywhere their roots pointing up to the heavens. The battlefield looked like the site of a catastrophe.

Hearing rustling from behind him Naruto turned to see the sight of the Yondaime covered in blood coming from numerous gashes that could be seen on his clothing clutching the baby in his arms. Sometime during the battle the child lost his blanket, and upon his stomach their was black markings that looked like eight spires connected together with a swirl.

"Minato,"Sarutobi happened upon the scene and noticed that he was on the verge of death and started doing handseals.

"Don't bother Sarutobi," Minato said, "I died the moment I used the _Shiki Fujin_(Corpse Demon Seal Exhaustion) I'm just living on borrowed time"Minato smiled before passing the child over to Sarutobi.

"What are we going to do?" Never before had Naruto ever heard the Sandaime's voice sound so lost.

"You'll just have to take back the title of Hokage again, but make sure that everyone knows he is a hero. Because everyday he lives he protects Konoha from the terror of the Kyuubi." Staggering over to the two Minato places a kiss onto the child's head before he falls to the ground dead.

Wiping a tear from his eyes the newly reinstated Sandaime Hokage smiles down at the child and said, "Your father is a greater man than I am, a true testament to the 'Will of Fire' Naruto"

Naruto's eyes widen at this revelation. Shaking his head in shock Naruto fall down on his ass. Trying to orient himself he barely hears the Sandaime next words, "We'll have to change your name though, your father had so many enemies, even in Konoha. Perhaps Uzumaki, your mother would be proud pass on her family name to you."

Smiling at the sleeping babe in his arms, Sarutobi rubs his hand over his hand and finishes with, "I hope you appreciate the trouble the council will be raising one you wake up..."

"Wake up..."

"Wake up..."

"**Wake up Demon!!!"**

_A Forest Surrounding Konoha_

"Wake up Demon," the leader of the band of shinobi jolt Naruto awake with a low level suiton jutsu.

Naruto Startled awake to see his captures standing in a semicircle around him. Struggling to escape, he notices his hands are tied to a relatively thick limb of a tree while the rest of him his dangling, with his feet perilously off the ground.

"It's no use trying to escape," explained the leader as he fiddled with one of his shuriken, "the _Ayatsuito no Jutsu_(String Reeling Technique) is used to tie down an opponent, and since I used chakra to reinforce the wire you wont be making any extraordinary escape." The man laughed to himself and turned towards his buddies and said, "Whose up for some target practice?"

"Why are you doing this? What did I ever do to y-?" Naruto tried to plead, but was cut off by sharp pain in his shoulder. Looking over to his shoulder Naruto saw a shuriken extruding from his skin, no longer being held by the leader of the shinobi group.

"I don't need to explain anything to a demon like you!" The leader shouted angrily. One of his subordinates scowled at the bound boy and said heatedly, "We don't need a reason to hate you. Because of you, our families were destroyed.

"But, I didn't do anything." Naruto tried to plead again. His pleas fell on deaf ears as the leader tossed another shuriken into the captive blonds other shoulder. Naruto felt himself tear up as the stinging sensation from the shuriken was made worse when the blood which had begun to soak both parts of his shirt began to cling to his wound.

"Oh look, the little demon is crying for his mommy." one of the other shinobi chuckled mockingly, "but no one is here to help you. No one can hear you scream, just the animals, the trees and the night sky. So cry out all you want, cry unto heaven." Taking out one of his kunai from his pouch, his assailant stalked over to the frightened boy and cut the tattered shirt from the boys underdeveloped frame. Turning to his accomplices he asked, "Is anyone up for some target practice? X marks the spot." before proceeding to carve Several circles inside one another with a big X quartering them all. The leader started smirking as the rest of the guys got ready to throw their weapons at the restrained child.

Naruto couldn't tell you how long his tormented sick, twisted, and demented game of target practice lasted, but he could tell you that at no time was he unconscious for any of it. His capturers were very skilled at causing Naruto pain, but not allowing him to settle into the deep abyss of unconsciousness. The very air that night was ripe with his screams of agony, but was unheard by anyone that could care.

The boy's body was now a sight to behold, crisscrossing scars could be seen extending from his collar-bone to his lower chest. The skin, which had preciously been somewhat as pristine as a young orphan could get it, was now soaked red with the amount of blood that had been dispelled from throughout the shinobi's wicked sport. The child vocal chords were ruptured from screaming too much, and his eyes that had days before been shining sapphires just days before had dulled significantly. The boy whose spirit had been boundless had broken.

"Oh look, our toy has been broken. It's no more fun now that we can't hear him scream." The leader of the band stated, tilting his head sideways to look into the now broken boys clouded eyes he asked his accomplices, "What shall we do with him now?"

"We can't let him go, he has seen our faces enough to commit them to memory." One of the other shinobi commented.

"We should kill the boy now, and be done with it." Another submitted.

While the assailants were discussing what to do with the boy, neither of them noticed another presence enter into the clearing. Upon spying the scarred and bleeding child strung up on the tree, a clam seemed to settle over the man while a cold fury emanated from his presence. Clearing his throat the man settled a glare laced with very potent killing intent.

The leader, who had seemed the least affected by the glare leveled the man with a calculative look. The intruder was wearing a pair of black hakama pants with a deep blue kimono, the image that made the ninja pause was the sight of the dai-sho that was tucked securely into the folds of his oba. Taking an appraising look at the strangers face he notices that the intruder seemed to be in his early forties. Looking over his shoulder to his men, he notices a couple of them trembling in their boots.

"Come on guys, this samurai doesn't know what he is getting into. We can take him on, and then finish the demon brat off once and for all." The leader tried to rally his comrades together. Unfortunately for the newcomer he was able to succeed in bringing his accomplices out of their terror driven state and arm themselves with their weapons.

The newcomer sighed and taking another look at the strung up boy, he closed his eyes while saying, "It is a sad thing to see a child suffer, but for grown men like yourselves to do something so terrible just shows how far from the path you have strayed," sadly shaking his head.

Taking advantage of his opponents momentarily lack of visibility, the leader of the group of tormentors pulled his ninjato from off his back, while rushing towards the samurai. The samurai, as if expecting an attack dodged the sword strike just before it could pierce the skin of his neck. Opening his eyes, the samurai narrowed them in his attackers direction before continuing his statement.

"For people like you, the only recourse to be taken is...DEATH!" Moving faster than any of the watching shinobi could see, the samurai vanished only to reappear in the exact same spot he had started a second later with his sword half-sheathed, "I hope enlightenment can reach you in your new home...in hell." With a click the samurai fully sheathes his sword as the air became misted from the blood of the five tormentors that spewed forth from numerous fatal wounds that erupted from their bodies.

Turning back to the broken boy, the man kindly undoes the wire wrappings around the boy's arms The samurai notices the grooves that the wires carved into the boys wrists. The man jumps into action immediately. Ripping off one of his sleeves of his kimono, the samurai proceeds to wipe the blood from the boy's wrists and chest.

"_Amazing,"_ the man thinks to himself, _"It's amazing that the kid is even alive."_ taking hold of his wakizashi the samurai cuts his other sleeve of his kimono off and fashions some primitive bandages that he wraps around the boy's wounded wrists and chest. Hearing a sound that was so faint it seemed to almost not to have been made, the man repositions the boy so that his ear was next to the kids mouth so he could better hear.

"W...Wh...Why?" The frail little thing could barely get out through his ruptured cords.

Pulling his head away from the young boy so he could see the confused and scared look in his eyes, the samurai responded, "In this world there are people who do things that are bad. For money, for fame, for power. But you should never try to understand these people, for theirs is not a mind filled with reason. They should deserve your pity and not be given a second thought. Now do not talk, you need to give your throat a chance to heal." Nodding his head, for the first time that night, Naruto let himself give into unconsciousness in the arms of the strange man that saved him.

Smiling at the boy who was fast asleep in his arms, the lone samurai contemplates what to do with the little one. Taking in the state of the boy's ragged pants and malnourished body, he could successfully assume the boy was not properly cared for. And taking into the fact that no one would ever let a child out alone after dark, led man to believe that the kid was an orphan.

Settling his resolve that man opted to take the boy to the nearest shelter, and then decide what to do when he was better. The man knew that there was a village nearby that was full of ninja, but spying the hitai-ate on the ground had a leaf insignia he ditched that plan.

"_They might not be too happy with me killing five of their ninja."_ The man thought. So he settled for the next nearest town, which was just twenty minutes away. Gathering his wits about him, the man proceeded to clean up any evidence he was there. After picking up the boy, the man proceeded to rush in the direction opposite the bloody clearing leaving the sight of five corpses to be discovered by ANBU a few days later...


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N:**

I find it hard to believe that out of all the 150 people that read my first chapter, there was only one person to write me a review of it. Furthermore, I find it ironic that that asshole just so happens to sleep in the room across the hall from mine. Please let me know how I am doing in my stories. I will let you know though, that flames will be used to feed my fire, so be sure to drop off marshmallows. Also, while I love the occasional lemon like the next person, I do not see a reason to use one unless there is a plausible situation and reason for it to be in there. So for all you depraved individuals that think this story is just a Jerk-off piece, Leave now because it wont be for many, many chapters to come.

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**DISCLAIMER: **

I don't own, refer to chapter one.

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"Blah" - Talking

"_Blah"_ - Thinking

"**Blah" **- Demon/Summon talking

"_**Blah" **_- Demon/Summon Thinking

"_Blah_" - Jutsus

_Japanese Way Station _

Drifting in darkness, Naruto contemplated the horrors of his past and wondered why the ninja of Konoha would hurt him like that. He knew he wasn't very well liked by the populous of Konoha, he was even called names like monster or even demon by some of them when he wasn't around the Sandaime or the nice folks at Ichiraku's, but none of their words made much sense to him. He wasn't a monster, and he most certainly not a demon. He acted like all the other normal kinds in the orphanage, but no one was allowed to play with him.

Allowing his senses to stretch he tried to recall where he was, but all he could remember was being saved by some man wielding a sword, but after that it was all a blank. _"Did he leave me like everyone else would have?"_ Naruto questioned himself, but the feeling of something soft under his head through that theory out the window. Opening one of his eyes Naruto figured that he should at least see if he was in any danger.

Cracking open his left eye so he could peer through, Naruto saw that he was lying on a futon in what looked like a traditional Japanese room. There was no door, there was only a sliding screen to separate the room from the outside. Beside the door was a window with bamboo blinds. Naruto could hear the soft clinging of wind chimes in the Autumn breeze.

"So you've finally awoken." Naruto jerked his head at the voice. The image that assaulted him was the same man that saved him. Naruto noticed that the man's kimono was lying folded neatly nearby, the half-dressed in man was sitting against the wall with one of his hakama clad legs extended while the other was pulled closer to his chest. Naruto saw that the man's katana was leaning on the shoulder opposite his knee while his wakizashi was laying close to his side nearest the door.

"It is impolite to stare." The man's voice caught the Naruto's attention, and the boy realize he had been staring. Bowing his head in embarrassment, he tried to apologize but trying to make a sound was hard to do. Every sound he tried to make left his throat feeling like he was swallowing glass. The man caught on to his predicament said, "There is no use trying to talk, you ruptured your vocal chords when you were being tortured, you might regain your voice back, but only if you rest it. Now, since you can't talk I would ask you to write your name. However you look only to be four years old, and judging from the state of your close, homeless, so I can rule out that also. So until you can talk again we will have to find you a name."

Naruto looked nonplussed at the mention of a new name. He liked his name, it was one of the ingredients of his favorite food. Since the boy never could really get a hold of any food from the market, and any food given to him by the orphanage was rotten, Naruto learned really early that if he wanted any decent food he would need to go to Ichiraku's. To his mind, which hadn't tasted anything else there was but one food that was the best, and that was RAMEN. So it was safe to say he wasn't happy about losing his name, the only connection that linked him to the food of the gods..

Seeing the frown on the boys face, the man continued, "It's only until you get well enough to tell me your real name." getting up, Naruto was able to see the man's torso for the first time and was taken back buy the sheer number of scars that decorated the man's musculature. Noticing Naruto's apprehension the man spoke up while putting his kimono back on, "Your starring again. We're going to need to fix that. After all, you'll most likely have your own set soon enough anyways."

Naruto looked at the man inquisitively before the man continued, "When I got to you the ninja had essentially rendered your torso to ribbons. Frankly, I'm surprised that you were even able to stay conscious without succumbing to the shock and blood loss."

Jerking up in the bed, Naruto Focused onto his own chest and noticed for the first time that bandages covered his entire torso. At that moment the now fully dressed man chirped in, "You've been asleep for several days. I was debating on just leaving you at the nearest town, but I couldn't leave a defenseless child alone. So how about traveling with me?" Hearing this strange man say that perked Naruto up, but he was brought down by the fact that he wouldn't be able to see the kind folks at Ichiraku's Ramen Bar, or the Old Man Hokage if he left with him. But if he did go, he would get away from all the people that seemed to hate him.

The man seemed to take in the constantly changing expressions the kid was undergoing with understanding, and continued, "If your worried about seeing anyone from Konoha again, I'll make a deal with you. All you need to do is ask me and I'll take you back straight away, however you need to let your voice rest for at least two months before you can say anything, got it?You could consider it a vacation. And let's face it, after the troubling ordeal you've had to go through, what kid wouldn't need a vacation." The man finished.

After a great deal of contemplating, Naruto nodded his head in agreement. The man smiled and said, "Good, since we'll be traveling with each other I might as well introduce myself. My name is Matsumuro Kenshi And I am from the island of Japan, of the southwest coast of Cha no Kuni. I am also, as you could tell, a Rounin Samurai." The man finished up gesturing to his dai-sho, which he had put back into his oba.

Walking across the room to a set of cabinets, the now named man Kenshi removes a package and hands it to Naruto. Seeing the look of confusion on Naruto's face, Kenshi decides to take pity on the boy and explain. "These are cloths to replace the ones ruined a few days ago." Getting excited, Naruto rips open the very first gift he ever received from someone who wasn't the Hokage. Opening the wrappings revealed a kids kimono, and to the kids delight, it was a vibrant orange color that seemed to glow. Not many people found orange a very pleasing color to at, but to a kid like Naruto who was starved for attention, it was the best color.

The samurai saw the kids excitement and decided to comment, "In samurai custom, it is traditional for children to wear vibrant colors until it is time for their coming of age, more commonly referred to as a Genpuku. So I don't mind you wearing it." Kenshi finished his explanation. While Naruto put the kimono on, Kenshi went to talk to the manager about getting something to eat. The day had been wearing on, and it was almost dinnertime. When he returned, he was greeted with the sight of a colorfully dressed Naruto, but his Oba was on backwards. Smiling to himself, Kenshi helped Naruto straighten his oba and walked him to the dinning room.

Bowing to the old lady who managed the inn, Kenshi and Naruto took their place at their mats before the chabudai. After the meal began, Naruto tried to stuff everything he could reach into his mouth, but a quick reprimand from Kenshi put a stop to that. Eating at a more subdued pace, Kenshi started to discuss with Naruto his new temporary name.

"It should be something easy to remember, and preferably not long because then I would have to waste time just saying it." running through the list of names in his head, Kenshi lifts up a slice of Fish cake from his bowl of noodles. Seeing the piece of Naruto in Kenshi's chopsticks he had a hope that he might not need to change his name after all, Naruto tugged at the older man's sleeve to get his attention. Glancing in the kids direction, Kenshi sees the boy gesturing towards his chopsticks pointedly. Looking down at the morsel of food, he sees the piece of Naruto-maki and comes up with it.

"I have a name for you," he says. Naruto's heart swells with hope when Kenshi continues, "Your name shall be..." At this time Naruto is leaning toward Kenshi in anticipation, "MAKI!" Naruto takes a nosedive to the floor. Getting back up, Naruto shakes his head vehemently, but Kenshi stubbornly refuses to change his name. "So Maki, this time tomorrow, we will be heading to Cha no Kuni to get on a boat to Japan. Now you had best get some sleep, because we will be leaving early tomorrow and it will take roughly two days to get there, and the boat ride will be an additional week."

Sulking back to their room, Naruto mentally complains about stubborn samurais unwilling to change their minds, before settling in to the futon, ready to sleep. Kenshi also gets ready for bed, and unrolling a second futon, positions it and him in front of the door to the room, taking guard with his trusty dai-sho ready at a moments notice.

_Clearing Outside Konoha_

A days travel away in a clearing were four people wearing animal masks They were all standing in a clearing looking at one of the worst scenes they had ever seen. Lying on the ground were five of Konoha's best chuunin dead. The examiners were ANBU, Konoha's elite fighters, assassins, and bodyguards. While they were examining the scene closely so they could understand what had happened better, one of the ANBU stayed back and watched his comrades working with almost detached fascination. It took several minutes for the rest of the squad to approach the Dog masked ANBU leaning against the tree.

"Captain,"said the gravelly voice of the bear masked ANBU that had been examining the body for the past twenty minutes, "The victims appeared to have died awhile ago." Bending down to take a sniff at the exposed flesh he continued, " Judging from the smell, the body is in the early stages of decomposition, I would say several days at least."

"Good job Bear." The dog ANBU replied before turning to one of the others, "Crow, what does the area surrounding the bodies suggest to you?"he asked waiting patiently as the crow ANBU took a few minutes to take in their surroundings.

The Crow masked ANBU finally replied, " The area around the bodies are devoid of even the faintest hint of chakra residue. This could suggest that the chuunin either didn't or couldn't fight back."

The Bear masked ANBU shook is head in negation before saying, "The bodies suffered from numerous stab wounds, so it is highly doubtful that they didn't fight back after feeling the first cut. So that leaves us with the conclusion that they couldn't. So why is it that five of our best chuunins weren't able to fight back with their jutsu before death? It is highly doubtful that they were paralyzed with a jutsu, because that would leave a trace of chakra, even if it was faint from being used several days ago. So whoever did this is a genius, or a magician."

One of ANBUs wearing the cat mask that had been prowling around the clearing called out, "Captain, I think I found something." Moving away from the tree, the dog ANBU walked over to the the cat ANBU was pointing to the limb of a tree. In the limb was distinct markings of wire cutting deeply into the bark, and on the underside of the limb was distinct traces of blood..

Moving away from the tree the Dog masked ANBU looked first at the bodies, the at the limb before commenting with a bemused expression, "And for my first trick, I'll require the aid of an assistant."

The other ANBU just looked silently on at their Captain inquisitively.

_Hokage Tower_

Several miles away in the Hokage's Tower Sarutobi Hiruzen the Sandaime Hokage of Konoha was pacing back and forth in his office. Anyone who knew him could tell you that there was a number of reasons for him to be pacing. They could say that running the village is stressful and he need an outlet, they could also say that the reason was because he was about to be a grandfather and he was greatly anticipating the news. But the truth of the matter was that although village matters and familial ties were important to the old man, The reason that had him nervous was a similar, yet completely unrelated matter. He had just found out that Naruto Uzumaki his unofficial grandson, was kicked out of the orphanage several days ago.

Now Sarutobi was not a fool, he knew how the villagers treated the child very well. It is what led him to creating a law that made it a capital offense to talk about what the child contained. What he and all the older people of Konoha knew, but couldn't say was that inside Naruto was the Kyuubi no Yoko. Inside Naruto's body was sealed the King of Demons by the previous Yondaime Hokage. He had hoped that over time Naruto would make some friends with those of his own generation, but somehow the villagers had found a way around his law. They kept their children away from him,even going as far as telling them that Naruto was a hoodlum and that they should not associate with him.

What made Sarutobi so frantic, though was that since he heard about the orphanage's injustice, he had been unable to locate hide nor hair of the boy. He had checked all of Naruto's favorite hangout spots. There was no sign of him at the Hokage Mountain where he usually sat on the Yondaime's head to think. The Ichiraku Family hadn't seen him enter their establishment in a few days which worried him even more seeing as they were the only ones to give him decent food. Even the crystal ball he used for scrying purposes was unable to locate the boy because in order to scry for someone they had have a chakra signature, and unlocking chakra was only something taught at the ninja academy when the students become eleven.

Feeling an chakra presence coming toward the tower, Sarutobi halted his procession back and forth, hoping that these were the ANBU he had sent to find the whereabouts of Naruto. He was not disappointed when a man wearing ANBU gear and a Dog mask appeared in the room kneeling.

"Dog, what did you find?" Sarutobi asked anxiously.

"While following a faint trail throughout the village, my team and I was lead to an alleyway, where we felt the presence of five strong chakra trails leading away from the village. We assumed that these people kidnapped the boy, but following their trail that they left we were brought to a clearing several miles from the village." The dog masked ANBU reported.

Frowning with concern Sarutobi motioned the kneeling man to continue with his report, "The scene was a massacre, the five trails that we followed belonged to Saito-san and his group of friends. All five of their bodies were slain, but there was no residual chakra usage commonly left from jutsu usage."

Sitting down in his chair, the Sarutobi asked worried, "How were they killed?"

Seeing the Sandaime's face the ANBU responded, "They were cut by a blade in every one of their main arteries. Bear was confused at how someone was able to kill five of our best chuunin without them getting off one jutsu."

Arching his fingers together Sarutobi suggested, "Is it possible that the person killed them with one strike and then made the other cuts to confuse us?"

Shaking his head the dog ANBU said, "Bear was adamant that they all were made at roughly the same time, and I would trust his judgment seeing as he is a highly skilled medic-nin."

"How about Naruto?" The Sandaime asked his breath catching as he awaited the verdict on his pseudo grandson.

"He wasn't among the dead in the clearing. Cat had searched the perimeter thoroughly and found evidence that there was someone tied with wire to one of the trees, but the wire and whoever was tied up was missing. We are currently of the mind that someone, probably a strong ninja or someone equally skilled stumbled onto the site and killed the group of chuunin. He probably took the child and cleaned up anything that could be used to follow them."

Sarutobi was weary at hearing this. If his ANBU said that was how things played out, it was safe to say that that was probably how things played out. What was disturbing him though was the fact that whoever took Naruto was knowledgeable in shinobi tactics to mask and cover up ones track. That normally was only taught to Jonin or higher shinobi, and taking the fact that they could take out five of Konoha's best chuunin like nothing proved that the person was of high caliber.

Turning back to the kneeling figure he said, "I want you to send your best tracker ANBU on a mission to find Naruto. Have them start in the towns surrounding Konoha and circle Gradually until they find a trace of them, then follow it until they find them. I want Naruto back, understand?"Sarutobi asked with a steely look in his eye.

Bowing his head in agreement the ANBU shunshined away. Sarutobi walked to the window in his office that overlooked the city that seemed to start blazing in the dawning light. Even the faces that were carved into the Hokage's Mountain seemed to be covered in brilliant radiance. Lighting his pipe to calm his nerves he prayed that Naruto was safe in this stranger's company, wherever they were.

_Japanese Way Station_

Naruto and Kenshi stood together in the light of the dawning sun ready to make their trip to the homeland of this wandering Samurai. Kenshi dressed in a new dark blue kimono top and his black hakama pants Turned to his new traveling companion who was wearing his brand new orange kimono that seemed to glow like fire in the morning light. Smiling to the boy he asked, "Ready to begin?"

Solemnly nodding his head, the both took off from the way station in the direction of the rising sun, ready to begin a new chapter in both of their lives and hopefully it would be a good one.

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**Japanese Words/ Phrases**

_Hakama- Traditional_ samurai pants that have wide leggings at the bottom that tapers at the waist.

_Dai-sho-_ (Big-Small) it is the term Samurai use to refer to their katana and wakizashi together.

_Oba_- A traditional belt worn commonly with a kimono.

_Cha no Kuni_- (Land of Tea/ Tea Country) a stretch of island to the south of Konoha. According to: narutohurricane

_Genpuku_- A traditional ceremony in which Samurai children are recognized as adults.

_Chabudai-_ A traditional Japanese table with short legs.

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Please read and review.


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N:**

Thank you all for your wonderful reviews. The reason, I hadn't updated the series sooner was because I was waiting for some reviews to tell me how I was doing (sorry for not giving props _SOULREAPER14)_. My brother, who is also a Naruto Officianado, and expert in the practical application of jutsu in real life reviewed: (i.e. ragged) on my story (he's the asshole that lives across the hall from me). He brought to life some of the more pressing inaccuracies. Which I will make apparent now. Like _FANFICKING_ said: "The ANBU are seriously underestimating samurais." I agree. What you must realize though is that this is a nation of shinobi that as a whole does not deal with samurai very much, and those they do deal with are either thugs who lack serious skill or just samurai turned ninja who use chakra to enhance their skill. The first would be deemed a non-threat especially to five of Konoha's best Chuunin, and the others would have left a chakra trail to follow. Since there was no chakra trail, the obvious choice would have been a non-threat. But the Chunnin still died, so the ANBU assumed that there must have been an experienced ninja present to erase the trail. I thank all the people who responded to my story, and would like to point out that unlike all other stories, I like to keep my characters as real as possible. So remember that just because the reader knows what is going on, doesn't mean the characters in the story do yet. I always love reviews, and await your opinions on the other chapters.

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**DISCLAIMER: **

I don't own, refer to chapter one.

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"Blah" - Talking

"_Blah"_ - Thinking

"**Blah" **- Demon/Summon talking

"_**Blah" **_- Demon/Summon Thinking

"_Blah_" - Jutsus

_Ship Off the Coast of Tea Country_

If anyone aboard the ship Tatsuki were to look up, they would have seen the most peculiar sight of an orange blur withing the shrouds of the foremast. If anyone of the spectators were to look closer they would have noticed that the orange blur was in fact a boy in an orange kimono that looked no older than four. The boy was running up the rope ladders that comprised of the shrouds with wild abandon. Looking at the spectacle, a passerby could assume that the boy had never been on a ship before. That person would be spot on with their assumption.

Naruto, who was currently hanging upside down on the the highest rung of the ladder swaying in the breeze made from the tossing of the ship underneath and looking at the beautiful sunrise. Naruto had made it a habit of waking up in time to see the sunrise ever since Kenshi left with him nearly a week prior. After the Way Station, they had kept to the main roads that led through Cha no Kuni. They rested at various inns when it was necessary, but otherwise they had stopped for nothing until they arrived at the shipping port at the bottom of the country. The journey in all took three days by foot, and now they were sailing to Kenshi's home in Japan.

His first day aboard the ship, Naruto was impossible to deal with. The boy simply had too much energy to sit still for a week long cruise, so Kenshi had gotten the captain's permission to let the boy work off his energy with the crew. The crew had taken an instant liking to the Naruto. It was impossible to not like the boy. He was a veritable bundle of joy and even though he still couldn't speak, he had no problem with making his point understood, or his displeasure felt.

The crew treated Naruto as though he was a member of the family, and after getting the go ahead with their captain started teaching Naruto the basics of sailing. Naruto, who was happy to just have someone who liked him, soaked up everything they had to teach like a sponge. He knew how to mend his own cloths if they ever tore, a useful skill for anyone according to Kenshi. He could keep his balance while running up and down the shrouds while they were swaying wildly in the breeze. Some of the crew even gave him some moves for self defense from a style called Yaw-Yan, which was a form of Filipino kick boxing which was short for Sayaw ng Kamatayan aka "The Dance of Death." The martial art had no blocks, instead it used the opponents attacks to create openings to deliver debilitating kicks and punches to the weakest areas of the body to either incapacitate or kill in a short amount of time. Naruto was in no way proficient in the style, but he knew enough moves that if need be he could protect himself.

Stepping away from the cabin door, An old man garbed in sailor ware that, while not as fine or clean as the captain's, still were better than most of the men. This man was simply called by his title Fukutaicho. He had a face that, while still in its prime, had lines and scars that let you know he was not someone to be trifled with. He also decided that he would take over the kid's education after the second day when he found out the men were teaching the boy only common things. After he took over, Naruto learned the finer things like manners and dinning etiquette. He also took it upon himself to teach the boy Navigation and charting, but had to put the latter on hold when he found out the boy was unable to read. So instead, Fukutaicho was giving Naruto the introduction to the alphabet.

"Maki!" Fukutaicho called from his place on the deck of the ship, "Come down here. I have a lot of things to teach you, and only a few days left to make sure you get them right." Gracing the haggard man with his trademark grin, Naruto flipped himself right and navigated himself through the ropes like a fish would water until he was present before the man who he greeted with a bow to show his respect since he couldn't talk.

This was how his lessons always began since the Second in command took over Naruto's education. First, Naruto would run off his excess energy in the pre-dawn mornings, while also checking for any frayed knots or broken ropes the shrouds might have accumulated over night. Then the Fukutaicho would come out to see if the boy found anything conductive before starting his lessons after breakfast. Then about mid morning, Fukutaicho would go about doing his daily duties giving the boy time to learn from the crew in whatever they thought he might want to know. Usually this means them teaching him more of the moves of the Yaw-Yan. After a decent lunch hour,Naruto had his own chores assigned to him by the crew like washing the deck. At late afternoon Fukutaicho would retake over and finish his lesson from that morning before dinner was announced. After dinner, but just before bed, Kenshi would have Naruto practice his letters and writing before bed. The rinse, lather, and repeat.

Gesturing for the boy to right himself, the man continued, "Maki, we are now nearing the fifth day of our voyage, and though you have learned a lot, you still aren't proficient in any of it, so it will be up to you to master the things taught to you on your own time. Just remember that Kenshi will be there to help you if needed, but he isn't there to give you all the answers. Knowledge, Strength, and Experience are not something that you can achieve on the coattails of greater men. And for the final three days you have under my tutelage, you will learn the final and most useful skill that all sailor...No, all MEN need to know. The ability to make knots."

Seeing Naruto look of apprehension Fukutaicho reached behind himself and pulled out something square covered in cloth. Handing it to Naruto he tells him to open it. Pulling off the wrapping of the object off, Naruto sees a board made of exquisitely carved wood. What was on this wood was a series of white chords tied into twenty different knots. Each knot was different, and just by looking at the board Naruto was mesmerized by the sheer quantity of them.

Continuing where he left off, Fukutaicho Said, "Every knot can tell a story. Just as every knot is like a picture. The chord itself, so frail and weak standing alone, has the power to become something more. The same could be said about humans. Every one of us standing alone is frail, but as we go along life's twists and turns we make choices. Every choice we make shapes us, every person we meet weaves us together, and even every life we touch ties us to something bigger than ourselves. We become a knot on the board of life. I and all the crew have been making this knot board for you since you became a part of our family. Every one of theses knots were made from a different member of the crew in hope that you never forget to make your own knot in the world."

Tearing up, Naruto embraces the Fukutaicho in gratitude. Without further preamble the two pulled up a couple of crates and sat down for what would be a couple of hours of knot working before the Fukutaicho's afternoon duties. The lesson was captivating to Naruto. They first went through the basic knots everyone needed to learn, then Fukutaicho showed him a way of weaving two broken strands of rope together. All in all, Naruto had a good time.

When the bell began tolling the change of shifts, Fukutaicho went about his duties while Naruto went to the cabin below deck to where the crew resided when not working. This was where he was learning art of combat from an old man, who's skin seemed to have been darkened to an absurd amount of time in the sun, named Ziggy. Entering the crews floor of the cabin Naruto took in the wide room which had hammocks slung across the walls and the only lighting in the room was from a single lantern swinging with the swaying ship. Naruto looked around and saw that the man he was looking for was in one of the hammocks, so he went over to the man and gently shook the man's shoulder trying to get him to wake up. It didn't work, and the old man just continued snoring away. Feeling his eye twitch Naruto pressed more firmly but still didn't get the results he wanted. So gripping the side of the hammock, Naruto flung the old man out of his sling and onto the floor.

"Huh?...Wha?...Maki-kun?" Ziggy said confused until he saw the boy standing over him. "Oh! Is it time for your lesson already?" he continued with a twinkle in his eye. Naruto sighed exasperated by the old man's shenanigans. He always did this to Naruto, try to get Naruto worked up. He tried a new trick every time, he had slicked the door knob with Vaseline once and Naruto went at the door with a hatchet. He had set a trip wire on the door that set Naruto sprawling into a bath of cold water, that sent him chasing the old man around the room. Ziggy even slipped a mouse down Naruto's kimono, which Naruto retaliated by exchanging the mans pipe tobacco with oregano from the kitchen. Ziggy claimed that they were only to teach the boy how to control his emotions, but Naruto knew that he was just playing pranks on the boy.

Seeing the boy's impatience Ziggy quickly continued, "Alright, Alright, Enough already. I'll continue your training sheesh. You know children like you should learn to relax and take life in stride. Why I remember when I was a young lad..."Ziggy saw Naruto crossing his arms and tapping his foot impatiently and said, "But that's a story for another time. So if my memory is correct, and that's a dodgey thing at MY age you know." Ziggy pulled out a fan from under his shirt and poked his chin with it in thought. "Oh right, you have been able to learn twenty four of the forty kicks, and eight of the twelve punches...SUGOI!!! That's an amazing feat for someone your age to do. but seeing as I am a marvelous, wonderful, and stupideous sensei, it makes some sense."

"I think you mean STUPENDOUS Shishou." Came a retort for the entryway of the cabin. Looking over Naruto saw the appearance of a long-haired teen wearing what once must have been a white tunic, but through countless washings had faded to a dull gray. He also wore a pair of faded and ragged corduroy shorts. The teen moved closer to the two and Naruto was able to see that the teen restrained his ebony hair into a ponytail with a piece of knotted string and had a gold hoop in his left ear.

"Ah Akira-kun, it's so good of you to come to one of Maki-kun's tortu- ahem..training sessions." Turning to Naruto Ziggy made the introductions by pointing his fan to the other boy, "Maki-kun, this is Akira. He is my apprentice and also your training partner today." leaving the two in the center of the room, Ziggy went and brought a crate to sit on. After settling himself the old man turned to Naruto and with a serious look on his face proceeded to say, " As I said before you have been able to learn over half of the techniques the Yaw-Yan has to offer, and that is to be commended. However, that does not in any way mean that your are strong enough or skilled enough to utilize those moves effectively."

Naruto looked at the man, confused buy his serious tone. His expression must have relayed his confusion to the old man because Ziggy decided to elaborate. "Ever since the first day of this cruise, I taught you some of Yaw-Yan so that you could effectively defend yourself, if ever you ever needed to. However, you have been able to learn the moves more rapidly than any others. I am afraid that if you were able to learn the rest of the moves in the three days we have left, then you will stop practicing them believing you had mastered them already. This I cannot approve of.

Naruto was beginning to understand,Ziggy started to fan himself while he let those words sink into the youngster's mind. After letting his words stew for awhile the old man continued, " The Sayaw ng Kamatayan was a martial art created in my homeland, and hasn't been taught anywhere in Japan or the Elemental Countries. If I were to let anyone to go into either with the full art unmastered, then the style itself would be seen as weak. I would be seen as weak. So I will only teach you the last half of the style if you swear a vow to never stop practicing, never stop getting better, and promise to continue to master the style even when I can no longer oversee your progress. Only when I have your word will I continue your training."

Bowing his head Naruto though about the huge undertaking he would be promising to if he agreed, and for once was happy about being given this choice. He was glad that for once, he could decide his own path he wanted to take. Naruto was reminded of Fukutaicho's words not several hours beforehand, _"Every one of us standing alone is frail, but as we go along life's twists and turns we make choices. Every choice we make shapes us. Maybe this was one of the choices he meant."_ Firming his resolve Naruto kneeled before the sitting Ziggy, and bowing his head placed his palms together above his head to represent his vow.

Ziggy must have understood because he finished by saying, "Your vow has been accepted, rise Maki-kun." as Naruto rose Zyggy remarked, "Remember that as a rule: Money, Fame, and Power are fleeting. They change owners so quickly, and not when you want them to neither. As a man, all you have is your word. That stays with you forever, and once broken can never be gotten back." What followed for the next two hours were a grueling training session with Ziggy's apprentice Akira.

The rest of Naruto's day went off like all the rest of them. After lunch he spent his time washing the deck before spending another three hours with Fukutaicho going over the various knots he learned that morning. Nothing exciting happened until after dinner, just when Naruto was heading to his cabin with Kenshi for his evening lessons in reading (not aloud) and writing. The ship shuddered jerking Naruto off his feet. Kenshi, having more training in staying on his feet got Naruto up and told him to go to their cabin and stay there. Taking off towards their room while Kenshi went up deck to find out what was wrong.

_Deck of Ship_

The sight that greeted Kenshi when he cleared the archway that separated the deck from the lower levels of the ship was battle. The crew of the Tatsuki was holding off several dozen men that seemed to be decked out in black, Attached to the railing of the ship were rope cables that stretched to a black galley with black sails. The crew of the Tatsuki, while doing a good job of holding the invaders off, couldn't keep going for long. So removing his katana and wakizashi from their sheaths, Kenshi jumped into the action quite literally.

The first thing on the invader's mind as the battle wore on was how to win. At the beginning of the battle, their crew of thirty strong was beating back the merchant vessels paltry nineteen like nothing. Then comes a samurai into the fray and their numbers drop to nearly half. Flashes of crimson light could be seen coming from the blood drenched blades in the samurai's hands as the man leaped and slashed through the air. Not once in this entire battle had Kenshi stopped moving, keeping in constant motion by either dodging or flipping over opponents attacks. Kenshi displayed feats of dexterity that would have trained acrobats jealous with envy such as cutting the legs from one of the pirates, just to balance on the then knee high man while slitting the throats the pirates behind him.

Kenshi was a work of poetry in motion. Everyone who saw would have confirmed this, and any survivors of the pirate raid was sure to remember the night a single samurai nearly wiped out an entire pirate crew. Everywhere you looked there was another pirate head being severed from it's body in a spay of blood. One of Kenshi's blades were being shoved through another's heart and out through the man's back . There was even one man sliced straight through the middle as a result of Kenshi's first flip.

After what seemed like hours to the men, but was only mere minutes the invading force was forced to flee back onto their vessel. Standing at the bow of the ship facing back towards the cables connecting the two ships, Kenshi raised his katana until it was as extended as it could go. If anyone were to look, they would see Kenshi's sword begin to glow blue right before he brought the sword down in a cutting motion releasing a blade of pure blue chakra cutting all the ropes connecting the ships together.

_Naruto (During Battle)_

Naruto could hear the clashes of battle above, and went to follow Kenshi's orders. He ran through the hallways as quickly as he could. Continuing to look back, Naruto didn't notice someone Blocking the way until it was too late. He ran straight into the firm body of one of the invaders.

"Well, Well, Well, lookie what we have here. A little shrimp trying to run for his mommy?" Turning to his partner he asked, "What should we do with the little runt?"

The second goon looked to the first and said, "Just get rid of him, we need to get the loot, not play around. The kids in out way."

Smiling the first goon took out his knife and smirked at the boy, "It looks like today isn't your lucky day. I hope you had a nice life, cause it's about to be cut short." Making a move to stab the boy, the two goons heard an old voice from behind them.

"What do you think your doing?" Grabbing the boy, the first goon turned around while putting the knife against Naruto's throat. Naruto saw that behind the goons was Akira and Ziggy and both of them were holding foot long blades.

"Well will ya' lookie here, more people to join the party. Now don't be thinkin' about doin' nothin' fancy, cause one slip of the blade and this here guppy will be food for the fishes got it?" The first goon pressed the knife in hard to prove a point and drew a little blood.

"Alright let the kid go and we cam get you what you want." Ziggy said calmly.

The first goon scoffed and moved the knife to the right side of Naruto's neck be fore replying, "And lose our ticket outa' here. No thank you. You'll hand over your weapons or he'll die either way."

While the older men were talking Akira was secretly getting Naruto's attention, he gestured with the hand not holding the blade a snapping motion. Naruto's eyes widened because he recalled a lesson Ziggy had give him the other day on the very situation he was in. Seeing Naruto's reaction, Akira nodded to show Naruto he guessed right. He also pointer to himself and kept two fingers out to show he would take care of the second man.

Putting his hand on his captors wrist, Naruto turned his right shoulder into his captors sternum and pivoted the man's wrist to lock the blade in place. The only difference was that except where the blade would have been plunged into Naruto's throat, now it was plunged into his captors lung.

"Wha..?" the man didn't even have time to complete his sentence because as soon as the knife hit its mark, Naruto circled his elbow up driving it into the man's nose breaking of the bone and stabbing it into his brain killing him instantly from the attack. The man's comrade didn't have time to respond because just as his partner went down, Akira's blade sunk hilt deep into his head putting and end to his life also.

Clasping the trembling boy by the shoulder, Ziggy complemented him, "Well done Maki, you used the Yaw-Yan perfectly. I couldn't be prouder. And hearing the cheers from up deck, I think the battles over. Why don't you go to your cabin, and I'll inform Kenshi about what happened here might be able to help you cope with taking a life."

Nodding his head, still shell-shocked over having to take his first life, Naruto went down the hall and entered into his and Kenshi's cabin to wait for his guidance. And for the first time relishing the fact he had someone who would help him with anything he needed.

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**Japanese Words/ Phrases**

_Shrouds-_ Triangular section of rope ladders that lead up to the top of the masts.

_Fukutaicho-_ A title that means "Vice-Captain". In this store used to represent the first mate.

_Knot Board-_ A board with a ships regularly used knots. Used as a guide to fresh crewmen.

_Sayaw ng Kamatayan-_ "Dance of Death" A Filipino Martial arts that utilizes kicks.

_Galley-_A type of ship. Think Pirates of the Caribbean Black Pearl.

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R&R PLZ


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N:**

I thank all you people for your great reviews. It was brought to my attention that there were a few problems in the previous chapter. I have corrected them, and I apologize that I didn't catch them. I am doing my own beta-ing because no one but me knows how I want every chapter scripted. Also I am debating whether or not I can give a few of the first chapters of my other stories, or leave you hanging until I finish this story. But that's neither here nor there. (Pulls out gavel and hits podium)Now people, it is time that we move on to the Reviewer questions. SOULREAPER14 asked, "So will Naruto be super strong/evil?" Answer: NO! Naruto will not be turning evil, because it is only logical that after several years away, Naruto would be able to put any issues he has Konoha aside in that time. AGEANT asked, "Are you using an Edo Period Japan as a backdrop for your Naruto Series?" Answer: YES and NO. From what I can understand, Naruto is based in a time line that is so far in the future that mankind has regressed, otherwise you would see more guns and heavy machinery than what was shown in the manga. However, they do have cameras and TV. So my idea is to have the elemental countries stay at that point, while Japan digresses to the more simplistic Edo Period. Also, I feel that I need to point out something. I know that all the people reading this story think that I am modeling the Samurai after Kenshin Himura, but that is not so. I named my Samurai KENSHI as in the Japanese word for fencing. There might be a few similarities, but I am trying to make my character original. I have posted about the Filipino Kick boxing aka Yaw-Yan at the bottom of the chapter.

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**DISCLAIMER: **

I don't own, refer to chapter one.

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"Blah" - Talking

"_Blah"_ - Thinking

"**Blah" **- Demon/Summon talking

"_**Blah" **_- Demon/Summon Thinking

"_Blah_" - Jutsus

_Japanese Loading Docks_

Naruto and Kenshi entered the deck of the ship as it made port carrying the few possessions they had with them. Kenshi turned to the boy and asked, "Maki, do you have everything?"

Naruto looked into the bundle of cloth that was roughly the size of the boys own chest, and by the light of the fading sun he looked at the few possessions he owned. There was the knot board that Fukutaicho gave him, and there was also another wrapped up bundle that he had gotten from Ziggy just the night before. Naruto remembered that night perfectly.

_Sailor's Cabin (Memory)_

Naruto had just fallen to the floor from an exhausting practice with Akira as Ziggy was sitting over the side on a crate with an unrolled scroll scribbling furiously while also giving suggestions to Naruto when he didn't get the kick or punch perfect. Approaching the boys Ziggy had Naruto kneel and hold out his hands. After Naruto had assumed the position with his arms outstretched, Ziggy handed over the very scroll he had been writing in just moments before. Puzzling over the medium sized scroll, Naruto broke its seal and was amazed as he unrolled it.

Taking the scroll from Naruto, Ziggy started to explain, "I told you several days ago that I wasn't going to continue your mentoring in the was of Yaw-Yan if you weren't going to master it. This scroll is the means to master it. Within this scroll contains all the basic forty kicks and twelve punches of the Sayaw ng Kamatayan, as well as several exercises necessary to get your body to the point where it can utilize the moves better." Unrolling the scroll a little, Ziggy showed Naruto that there were diagrams as well as words for each of the pictures. After rolling the scroll back up and resealing it, Ziggy handed the scroll back to Naruto.

"The first six diagrams show the necessary exercises you need to perform before training. These exercises are meant to help you hone up your body's core. People think that the abdominals, arms, and legs are the most important muscles to train up. But what they don't realize is that every muscle needs be in balance with its neighbors. What isn't widely understood is that all of the muscles that control your spine are important. To achieve maximum development and performance, you need to do exercises for all of your core muscles and movements. " Ziggy continued when he saw the boy give him a confused look. "You have four layers of abdominal muscle: The Rectus Abdominis, which balances your upper body and armors your solar plexus and internal organs. The Transverse Abdominis, which coordinates your body's movement by linking your upper and lower sections to your center of mass making you lighter on your feet, faster, more responsive, connected, fluid and agile. The Obliques, which work in different combinations to rotate your hips and trunk, bend you sideways, and stabilize your upper body while also protecting your sides from kicks, knees, and punches. And finally, your Spinal Erectors which help you arch backwards, twist around, and bend sideways."

Naruto looked at the two completely lost. Akira decided to enlighten the confused kid, "What Shishou meant to say was that if you continue to do these exercises: you will hit harder, dodge faster, kick harder, maintain balance, and increase your defensive capabilities. These are necessary to be able to fully use the Yaw-Yan better, as well as make you stronger in other areas." Akira finished with a nod.

Smiling in comprehension, Naruto nodded his head repeatedly in excitement to show he fully understood what they were saying. Ziggy handed the scroll over to Naruto before continuing, "Now Maki, I fully understand that you are just learning to read and write, so you wont be able to fully understand the words written in the scroll. So, I went the extra mile and drew diagrams of all the techniques. However, I don't want you to think you wont have to read them. So, you must swear to go back and read them after Kenshi finishes your tutelage. You promise this?" Ziggy finishes as he leveled Naruto with a steely glare.

Bowing his head Ziggy added almost as an afterthought, "Oh, and I want you to remember the oath you took, never stop practicing and getting better. I hope the next time we meet, you'll have a lot of progress to show me. Maybe you could give Akira a run for his money. Eh? All this writing has given me a quite the thirst, you whipper-snappers don't know how good you have it. " Pulling out his fan with a click, Ziggy left the two boys alone in the room while cooling himself with an over exaggerated flair.

Grinning to each other, Naruto and Akira left on the heels of their teacher.

_Japanese Loading Docks (Present)_

Naruto rewrapped the cloth bundle and nodded to Kenshi. Both Naruto and the samurai went to give their thanks to the captain of the ship who was shaking the hands of the departees at the top of the departure ramp. Walking up to the man, Naruto spied FukuTaicho standing next to his superior. Speeding up to the man and bowed to the two men. Smiling at the boys antics, Kenshi caught up to Naruto and spoke to the two awaiting men.

"Thank you for the trip, Maki and I had a good time." Kenshi said bowing to the esteemed men while putting his hand on Naruto's shoulder. And beamed at the boy.

"We were glad to have you. The crew will also be sorry to see such a fine sailor go. Would you mind giving him to us?" Fukutaicho asked to the departing duo, "No? Oh well...It was worth a try. Sorry for the pirate attack. You saved many of our men's lives that night, and any time that you require shipping services, you come straight to us. OK?" Fukutaicho finished as the two made their way to the top of the ramp.

"There's no need to thank me, I was doing what any normal person would do in your situation." Kenshi responded to the grateful sailors.

"Well anyway, you will always be welcomed on board the Tatsuki as long as we're here." The captain finished with a wave as the departees exited the ramp. And started walking up the docks.

"Come Maki. We need to hurry up. We'll need to make some tracks before the sun fully sets and they close the seki." Naruto looked at Kenshi funny and he decided to elaborate, "I'm not very well received in Yokohama because the samurais' Daimyo here doesn't get along with the Daimyo I serve in Kyoto"

Widening his eyes in understanding, Naruto and Kenshi picked up the pace a little bit until they had cleared the gate. The guards eyed Kenshi suspiciously, but didn't arouse any unwanted attention to the traveling duo. After leaving the confines of the city, Kenshi stopped in front of Naruto and gesturing down two very different roads and explained, "The road to Kyoto is divided into three roads. Tokaido, which is relatively flat and much traveled by merchants, leads through the lowlands. While Kiso Kaido and Nakasendo lead through the mountains and is more for those traveling lightly. I give you the choice which to go through."

Putting his hand on his chin, Naruto debated both routes. The merchant road was the more convenient, but the mountain road gave him a chance to see some more of this strange new land that Kenshi lived in. So Naruto raised his hand and pointed to the Image of the mountains in the distance.

Smiling to the boy Kenshi placed his arm around Naruto's shoulders and said, "I thought you might say that." And with that they were off toward the rocky path aligned with trees that headed toward Kyoto.

_Hokage's Tower_

Once again we find Sarutobi pacing in his office at the Hokage's Tower. His ANBU had been scouring the countryside trying to find any information on Uzumaki Naruto. They had searched in the way stations on the road to Taki no Kuni (Waterfall Country), Kusa no Kuni (Grass Country), and Ame no Kuni (Rain Country). So far Sarutobi's ANBU found no mention of a blond Five year old passing any of their borders.

Turning to the four pictures hanging on the wall, Sarutobi swept his gaze over each of the previous Hokages until he stopped on the last picture. The man was known as Minato Namikaze, but he insisted that he be called Arashi Kazama because he hated his family name. The man shown in the picture was wearing a long white coat with flames crawling up the bottom under which he wore black long sleeve shirt that could be seen coming from the torn sleeves of his coat and a pair of dark navy shinobi pants. If he were only twenty years younger and had whisker birthmarks, he could have been mistaken for another Naruto.

"_Minato, what am I going to do? Naruto has been missing for a week already, and the council is starting to ask questions."_ Sarutobi asked the picture of his predecessor. It was true. After so long of not seeing Naruto in town, the civilians on the council were wondering where the blonde boy they enjoyed tormenting was._ "If he hasn't turned up soon, I'm going to have to report him missing to the council. If that happens, they might force me to cease using Konoha's resources to find him."_

Now many who have aspirations to become the Hokage might believe that the Hokage has the highest authority in a Shinobi village. However, they would be mistaken. The highest authority in any village is the Daimyo of the country that village resides in. The Hokage is deferred to on matters of the military, but the Daimyo has the powers of state. That was why ages ago most starting Kages killed off their country's Daimyo, and took over their fortunes. That way they had absolute control over their territory. However, since then the Daimyo's have hidden their wealth so that any Shinobi nation that they funded would be unable to usurp them.

Konoha's Civilian council, with the help of Sarutobi's own teammates managed to worm their way into the Daimyo's confidence, and thus gave them clout to force Sarutobi's hand on anything that wasn't military related. And as much as he hated to admit it, Sarutobi knew Naruto was still a civilian until he joined Konoha's Shinobi forces, which he hoped would happen when the boy joined the academy at Nine years of age.

A Clearing of the throat let the Hokage know that he had a visitor. Turning toward the door from his standing position in front of the pictures, Sarutobi saw the very people that he had been thinking of. Homura Mitokado and Koharu Utatane, despite what many would think of them did not want to usurp their former teammate Sarutobi Hiruzen. They merely saw what had to be done and made sure it was done, even if Sarutobi didn't like it. They were not like Danzo, with his secret army of ninja that carried out orders behind the Hokage's back. And while they didn't hate the young jinchuuriki, they did feel that what was inside him was too powerful to let loose unrestricted..

"What may I do to help you two." Sarutobi asked his two former teammates calming his emotions and putting a mask of cold unfeeling on.

"It has been brought to our attention that Uzumaki Naruto hasn't been seen within the village for some time now. We were wondering if you knew anything about that." Homura stated pushing the glasses higher onto his nose while Koharu peered at Sarutobi through her squinting eyes.

"I might know something about it." Sarutobi stated, glad that Sixty years of life as a shinobi allowed him to perfect his empty expression otherwise his teammates would have known something was up. As it was, they couldn't determine anything off of his face, "Was there anything you wanted with him in particular?" Sarutobi asked hoping to lead them into thinking he knew where he was.

"No, we were just curious as to why he hasn't been seen. It was curious that also five of our best chuunins have gone missing also." Commented Koharu tilting her head ever so slightly to the left.

"I have ANBU investigating that matter. Apparently the five chuunins were killed about a week ago and their murderer got away." Informed Sarutobi in the hope of taking them away from their questions of Naruto.

They took the bait and asked, "What were their attacker after? No one has reported any break-ins or kidnappings in town. The only person that has not been seen is Naruto. Are you certain word has not reached our neighbors about his 'Condition'?" Homura finished.

Sarutobi tried to keep the frustration out of his voice and barely succeeded before continuing, "Yes I am certain nothing has happened to Naruto" _"Hopefully"_ Sarutobi finished thinking, "It wouldn't surprise me that with the treaty signing with lightning happening at the end of the month, that some foreign nation decided to mix up trouble about it."

"Speaking of the upcoming treaty signing, we need to go over the necessary security protocols." Koharu commented and Sarutobi heaved a mental sigh of relief that the subject was changed to something that would keep them preoccupied for a while.

"_Naruto, Come back soon. I'm getting too old for this."_ Sarutobi thought to himself as he settled down for what seemed like a long meeting with his former teammates.

* * *

**Japanese Words/ Phrases**

_Seki_- A gate that along the road to Edo where people had to present documentation to proceed.

_Jinchuuriki_- (Power of Human Sacrifice) The host of one of the Bijuu.

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**Random Facts**

Yaw-Yan is not purely a full-contact no-holds barred sport martial arts. It is a complete martial training with body-mind coordination and test of enduring indomitable spirit. More than just physical training, it also involves the mental disciplines of focus, concentration, alertness, flexibility, stamina, speed and continuity. Students train for real confrontation and actual fights -- on or off the ring.  
Advanced Disciples have to go through a rigorous ritual of practice and discipline consisting of actual full-contact sparring, bag hitting, and flexibility exercises. The Elbows (siko), knees (tuhod), and shin (lulod) are utilized in much the same way as in Muay Thai.  
Yaw-Yan practitioners have to learn 40 basic kicks, advanced disciples have to be able to execute and apply complexed advanced kicks requiring great dexterity, flexibility, and mastery. Most of these advanced kicks are trick kicks could catch unsuspecting opponents by surprise. Yaw-Yan Back-kick, reversed Yaw-Yan roundhouse stomp thrust, and the famous scorpion kicks were some of these kicks popularized in national motion picture by action stars Boy Fernandez and Rey Malonzo, both Yaw-Yan experts.

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**R&R PLZ**


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N:**

Hello Everyone. It is your dashingly handsome, exuberantly youthful, charismatically bipolar humble author telling you all … … … What? Only two reviews? How rude[Crosses arms in a huff]. I was considering on letting out the first chapter of my story "Fuuinjutsu Naruto" to show my appreciation, but if that's how you want to be then fine. I'll just have to wait a little bit longer. Oh by the way, I have opened up a new segment on my profile that has all of my favorite sayings I've made up during my time at work. Check it out. Oh and people reading this; If you review, I always leave a reply for you on your PM in your INBOX of Fanfiction(dot)net. So send me replies, Mine box so empty and yours is so full[Tear]. [Rubs eyes and pulls out gavel] Enough with the shenanigans on with reviewer questions and comments. CRIMSONDEATHKNIGHT asked: "I hope Naruto won't be too godly with swords, also is Naruto going to start in chuunin exams? I'm wondering due to that so many SAMURAI fics have Naruto fight Zabuza...which is over done..." My answer: Naruto will not be godly with the sword. In fact, if I write the story how I intend to Naruto wont even learn all the stances of the Tsurugi no Tenrai Hogosho until the battle with the Akatski member Pein. Also, I wish I could avoid having Naruto fight Zabuza, but it is unavoidable. Naruto has to get his ass kicked by a true swordsman, and my brother gave me an interesting Zabuza fight scenario that has never been written before that I just know you'll all love it. CRIMSONDEATHKNIGHT also asked: "Will Naruto be wealthy in order to be a well equip samurai? I know for sure Masamune is THE best swords maker, so will you have Kenshi,have a sword made for Naruto over the years he is training?" My answer: No Naruto will not be uber-rich. I have a very ingrained work ethic, and Naruto will have to work for what he get. And for the people who says that he was given the scroll for Yaw-Yan without working for it, need I remind you that to want to protect himself he had to suffer at the hands of five twisted Chuunin. To the question about his sword, That issue will be settled later. Though you were only half correct, the best sword maker in history was a toss up between Masamune, a swordsman who made swords during peacetime to uphold that peace, and Muramasa, a swordsman who made swords during war to slaughter their enemies. There will be s time skip in this chapter, but it is a necessary evil in order to progress the story. Otherwise, It would take an additional five chapters before Naruto even healed his throat, and ANBU found traces of him and Kenshi. So bear with it please. On with the Show.

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**DISCLAIMER: **

I don't own, refer to chapter one.

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"Blah" - Talking

"_Blah"_ - Thinking

"**Blah" **- Demon/Summon talking

"_**Blah" **_- Demon/Summon Thinking

"_Blah_" - Jutsus

_Dream Scape_

Naruto Looked around at the now familiar scene of Konoha in flames as the looming figure of the Kyuubi no Kitsune rampaged in the village. This same dream had been playing itself in Naruto's mind for several weeks now. He would find himself during the Kyuubi's attack. Right before the Yondaime sealed the demon away into a child that, according to the dream, was a baby him. And right before waking, the Sandaime would unveil that the Yondaime was his father. Now, Naruto wasn't the sharpest kunai in the set, but there was a few things he did know from eavesdropping in on the shinobi classes at the academy. First was that the Yondaime KILLED the Kyuubi, not sealed it up. Second was that the Yondaime wasn't married, so how could Naruto be related to him. Another thing that struck him as odd was that at the end of the dream the baby had a glowing spiral tattoo on his stomach that looked like a spiral sun. However, after repeated attempts to look for this tattoo on his person in the real world, he had yet to discover said tattoo.

Naruto spied the couple coming up to the top of the Hokage's Monument, and prepared himself for the scene that he had committed to memory ages ago. In the arms of the Yondaime was the baby and Sarutobi was arguing about using himself for the technique. The Yondaime summoning Gamabunta, and then using the _Shiki Fujin_(Corpse Demon Seal Exhaustion) to seal the demon fox into the baby before he reappointed Sarutobi as Hokage. And then the newly reappointed Sandaime taking Naruto away. Even though Naruto knew that the scene that played out to him was improbable, he still couldn't help but wish that those events really did happen. After the conclusion of the already memorized events Naruto felt himself beginning to awaken.

_Naruto's Room_

Waking up in the morning was never a chore for Uzumaki Naruto. Ever since the first sunrise when he and Kenshi left for Japan, Naruto had loved to wake before the sun and watch the Iridescent shades of the night turning to morning. The multicolor change from the dark blue to violet before settling on the deep orange gave Naruto a measure of peace. He often not spent the early hours between four and five in the morning just sitting back and enjoy the spectacle that nature presented to him before pulling out his scroll that Ziggy gave him and completing the stretches that his elderly friend drew onto the scroll. From then Kenshi got up and made breakfast at seven before Naruto practiced his Yaw-Yan until Kenshi began his studies.

Shivering, Naruto opened his eyes and set about his morning routine. Fastening his black hakama pants in place, Naruto ran the brand new kimono top through his fingers and admired the fine craftsmanship. Naruto smiled as he looked down at the burnt orange fabric. Kenshi bought him the kimono to reward Naruto after finally completing his lessons in reading and writing just that night previous. The shirt itself had little swirls in black all over the material with an obi that was black except with orange swirls. Although Naruto was happy have the kimono, he felt his real reward was to be able to read the directions in the scroll Ziggy passed on to him. After securing the kimono into the hakama with his obi, which Naruto would be proud to tell you was in a sheet-bend knot, Naruto left his room with his scroll tucked safely withing the folds of the kimono top.

Kenshi's house was very different than what Naruto was used to in Konoha. In Konoha, the buildings were made in a more western style. Most shinobi's choose to live in apartment complexes that were reserved only for shinobi, while civilians mainly lived in houses with their families. The were a few exceptions to this rule, however. Most of them were the older clans who had their complexes that housed their large families. The houses in Kenshi's village were developed in an eastern style. There were miniature complexes that were surrounded by walls everywhere. The only openings in the walls lead to the streets that criss-crossed between these buildings. Kenshi's property held two buildings that were both one story, as well as nice meditation garden. The buildings consisted of the main house which was able house the two of them quite comfortably, and a dojo where Naruto trained his martial art. Both buildings were made in the oriental style. Fusuma that slid on tracks lead into the various inner rooms where the hard wood of the hallways yielded to tatami mats. If you were to follow along the wooden hallways you would eventually come to the shoji doors that divided the hallway from the wooden engawa that wrapped around the entire building. From the engawa you could look out and see every part of the complex.

It is there that Naruto planned to await the morning sun. Opening his rooms fusuma door, Naruto slipped through the hallways as silent as possible to the shoji screens. Naruto didn't want to awaken Kenshi earlier than he had to. Naruto learned the hard way that Kenshi and mornings usually didn't mix very well. Naruto rubbed his arm tenderly from the memory. Kenshi had thrown Naruto through the window into one of the many sitting stones that littered the meditation garden. Luckily Kenshi had put his dislocated shoulder back to rights, but Naruto took that lesson to heart and treaded carefully during his morning exercises.

After he made it passed Kenshi's room, from which he could still hear the sound of rhythmic breathing, Naruto was able to heave a sigh of relief. That sound meant that Naruto's morning ritual did not wake the cranky Samurai from his rest. Moving to the genkan at the front of the house which dipped into the floor, Naruto put on his brand new sandals that Kenshi had bought him earlier that month. Naruto liked his new sandals, and paused in putting them on to reminisce about when Kenshi gave them to him about a month ago.

_Kenshi's Complex (Memory)_

Naruto had just finished his academic lesson from Kenshi that day and was letting off some energy by practicing his Yaw-Yan moves in the dojo when Kenshi came up to him with a bundle in his arms. Calling Naruto to him, he tossed the boy the package watched as the excited young boy opened the cloth covering the bundle. Uncovering several dark orange kimonos Naruto showed a smile of delight and Kenshi started to speak.

"Maki, I figured that if you were going to walk around in Edo, then it would only be fitting that you be dressed appropriately. I gave you a kimono several weeks ago, but it is becoming frayed and worn out. I will not let you walk around town looking like a pauper, so I bought you three new kimonos to wear. Also, If you look underneath the kimono you'll also find something interesting."

Removing the three kimono's from the package, Naruto found what appeared to be two flat wooden cut-outs with straps attached. Raising his eyebrows curiously, Naruto held up the two objects and gestured at the Samurai vaguely.

Picking up on his young charges curiosity, Kenshi continued, "Those are waraji. They are similar to sandals that lace up your legs. But before you put them on let me tell you hat these are special sandals. First; the bottoms of the sandals aren't straw like regular waraji, I replaced it with wooden soles. I pulled some strings from a few of my contacts in Konoha and the wood that the bottoms are made out of comes from a special tree. The tree itself soaks up chakra from its surrounding area and as a result makes the bark and wood heavier. The wooden soles will do this also, but there is a seal drawn at the heel that regulates the flow of chakra into the wood. I had a friendly monk I know make it so that the wood never exceeds enough chakra to surpass five pounds right now. This means you can build up your leg strength a little, but I will not let you hurt yourself by training with weights when your body isn't mature enough to handle it. Also; the straps on the sandal are made of sturdy leather reinforced with chakra to withstand up to 100 pounds, so that they wont break accidentally. Hopefully this will help you with your martial arts training."

Tearing up, Naruto launched himself onto Kenshi and gave him a big hug before heading off to put on his kimono.

_Genkan_

Smiling, Naruto finished putting on his last article of clothing and stealthily exited the shoji door onto the engawa. There he was greeted by the symphony of early birds twittering and a few chippings of crickets who were just going to bed. Naruto just stood there and took in the splendor of early morning. The sun had still yet come over the distant mountains that he could just see in the distance. As such, the meditation garden was still basking in the last vestiges of moonlight. The flat-rock pathway that led to the entrance gate seemed to glow as the normally dull-gray exterior shined compared to the darkened grass.

Following along the path until it forked off to the side of the complex away from the entrance gate, Naruto was greeted by the sight of the vast meditation garden that separated the main house from the dojo. The size of the garden never ceased to amaze the young boy. If the main house and dojo (which weren't small by any means) were to take up a third of the complexes grounds, then the garden took up the other two thirds of the grounds.

Around the grounds were Fairly large square stones that seemed to be placed at odd intervals around the garden. Between each of these meditation slabs (Naruto's very own name for them) was more flat-rock pathways that winded and circled in very beautiful patterns keeping clear of the very center of the area where there was a circular ring of sand. Kenshi had yet to reveal the purpose of the ring of sand, but you couldn't help but admire the image it made anyways.

Normally even in the morning light Naruto wouldn't have been able to see the patterns of the pathways for a while until the sun had fully rose, but Kenshi had deviated from the traditional garden and planted around the stone slabs a very rare form of lily that glowed at night. These "Lunar Lilies" gave off a beautiful white glow that illuminated the garden and let Naruto find his way around. Finding his favorite meditation slab, which incidentally was the one Kenshi threw him against that one time, Naruto settled in for some alone time.

It was an hour later when the sunrise cleared the distant mountains and Naruto jumped off of the stone slab he was sitting on and wandered past the sand ring and into the dojo. After sliding open the shoji doors that led to the inner room, Naruto looked around. The dojo itself was just a large room with a hardwood floor. On the far side of the room sat a single fusuma wall that had an altar with several wooden swords hanging vertical in between two hanging scrolls. The rooms lighting was taken care of with the help of the shoji screens that surrounded the entire room and let the light from the morning sun through to brighten the room in an orange glow.

Settling on the floor, Naruto brought out the Training scroll from withing the folds of his kimono top and unrolled it to the exercise portion that had the image of a man and different muscles outlined. Naruto looked underneath the man at the words and for the first time he read the instructions, and this is what it said:

_**Yaw-Yan Training**___

Here's an Inescapable Law of Nature: your core is the most important thing to condition in your body. Period. If you do nothing else to support your Yaw-Yan conditioning, train your core. Actually, if you do nothing else at all, just train your core. You need a strong core for balance & coordination, speed & agility, posture & stability, strength & power, and vital protection against hits to your midsection.

What IS the Core?  
People used to think that the abdominals were the most important thing. But, every muscle needs be in balance with its neighbors. To achieve maximum development and performance, you need to do exercises for all of your core muscles and movements. Your core muscles consist of:  
1._Rectus Abdominis ("The Six-Pack") __  
This muscle pulls together your lower ribs and fronts of your hips, curving your spine - like when you do a stomach crunch. It balances your upper body and armors your solar plexus and internal organs.  
2.__Transverse Abdominis ("The Corset")__  
Because it isn't visible, this ultra important muscle is generally ignored and underestimated. It runs behind your rectus abdominis. It braces your lower spine and prevents it from arching and collapsing. It coordinates your body's movement by linking your upper and lower sections to your center of mass. When it's strong, you're lighter on your feet, faster, more responsive, connected, fluid and agile. It also protects your spine and discs from overuse, strain, and pain. Because this muscle is a stabilizer (as opposed to a mover), it needs holding power - and thus a whole different kind of training than your other abs.  
3. __Obliques "Twisters" __  
Your internal and external oblique muscles run criss-cross around your sides. They work in different combinations to rotate your hips and trunk, bend you sideways, and stabilize your upper body. They also armor your sides against kicks, knees, and punches: anyone who's eaten a shot to the __liver will want to make this muscle solid.  
4. __Spinal Erectors "Bowstrings" __  
Your spinal erectors run like bowstrings up your whole spine. They help you arch backwards, twist around, and bend sideways. When they're weak, your posture crumples, your back gets tight and you feel pain from standing and sitting a lot, doing abs, kicking, clinching, carrying stuff, and having sex. Heh Heh....Sorry. _

Scratching his head Naruto commented to himself a little hoarsely, "So that was what Ziggy and Akira was talking about when they said that the exercises would help me. If I was to train alone, I would probably have been able to become strong. However, I probably wouldn't be able use it as good." Naruto had been deemed recovered enough to talk just earlier that week, and he was still getting used to be able to use it again. He almost got it back to normal.

Settling the scroll down Naruto took off his kimono and placed it next to the altar with the swords. He didn't want his favorite top to get dirty or ripped during practice. So walking back over to the scroll topless, Naruto unrolled more of the scroll to reveal six different pictures doing six different motions. Naruto saw that before the six exercises was a bold instruction box that read:

_**Six Exercises for a Strong Yaw-Yan Core **_

_General Instructions  
_

• _Do all of these in one workout.  
• Do them 3-5 times per week — but never when sore.  
• Do 2-5 sets of each exercise.  
• Rest 30-45secs between sets.  
• Do them slowly without momentum.  
• Do 10-50 reps (each group of reps is a set)  
• Never ever work through sharp or tingling pain in your joints.  
• Over training is worse than under training.  
• I'm serious. _

"Whoa! I was only supposed to do at most five times a week?" Naruto exclaimed out loud, "But, I've been doing them everyday without stopping!" Naruto reread the instructions and calmed down when it said to not practice when he was in pain. It seemed that he never got any real pain from his workouts, but he did get tired. He thought about it a little bit and decided that as long as he didn't experience any discomfort or pain from the exercises, he would continue. But if there was any, he would stop and rest for a full day.

Moving on, Naruto looked at the image he had been doing and proceeded to study it. The first picture had the man laying half off the floor with his top half supported by his hands. The image was sliding his feet up until both his knees were brought to his chest. Underneath the picture the words were:

_1. The Jack-knife   
_

_This works your rectus abs - especially the lower region. It also forces you to do this while stabilizing your arms and shoulders, which benefits stiff punching. Balance may be tricky at first, so move slowly and try to keep your stomach pulled in. You can drag your feet on the floor while wearing socks, or drag your bare feet in and jump them back out._

Keeping your hips up, pull your knees to your chest to curl your lower back. If you can't curl your lower back, stop. Otherwise, return to start and repeat. 

Naruto settled down and began his repetitions. Bringing his knees to his chest he made sure to keep his speed constant while also maintaining his balance and lower back curled. Naruto also paid extreme care to take a thirty second break before continuing on with his sets. All in all, it took him roughly twenty minutes to finish his Jack-knife portion of his exercise. Sitting up and stretching out the kinks in his lower back Naruto unrolled more of the scroll to the next exercise.

This image had a man lying flat on his back with his feet parallel to the floor. The man had a rolled up piece of cloth behind his head and he was apparently using the cloth to help him crunch further. Below the caption was this writing:

_2. Towel Crunch   
_

_This exercise also challenges your rectus abs, but now more the upper region. It's especially good because it works them through their full range of motion. Make sure to use a rolled up towel. The main important thing is that you keep your tail bone grounded at all times while you move through your full range._

Start with your back stretched out and your shoulders on the floor. Next, "roll" your hips forward so that your lower back pushes down hard onto the floor. This should cause your upper body to lever up into a crunch. Push hard. Return to start, touching your head and shoulders to the floor and repeat.. 

Looking around at the dojo, Naruto noticed an extreme lack of towels. Running his gaze across the floor, he noticed his kimono and obi that he placed over by the altar and decided to improvise. Walking over to the bundle of cloth Naruto withdrew his black obi with orange swirls and decided to use it as a makeshift towel.

Making his way back over to the scroll which was laying in the center of the room, Naruto put himself into position and began his exercise. Again, he made sure that he took a brief period between his set to work the kinks out of his back before continuing with his exercises. His next one was another lying down exercise:

_3. The Metronome   
_

_This one improves your oblique muscles' twisting ability, and will add power to your round kicks. This can be a difficult exercise at first, and requires technique as well as leg and back flexibility. Be careful, don't force or move wildly. You can start off easier by keeping your knees bent._

Start with your legs up, hips bent at 90-degrees, stomach pulled in. Lower you legs to the side. The trick is to simply relax your waist and let gravity bring your legs down while you keep your stomach in. Don't try too hard - just relax your way down, always keeping your hips at 90-degrees.

Once you've almost reached the ground, reverse direction by pulling with your abs and pushing with your arms for leverage. Bring your legs back up to start. Now lower them to the other side, relaxing them down in the same way. Return back up to start and repeat again, always alternating sides. Do not work through back pain. Limit your range if it's hard at first. 

Naruto got into position and went through the motions, while keeping to the original rule about breaking his sets to rest. Naruto was beginning to tire, but he wasn't feeling pain yet, so he continued on with the next exercise.

_4. Scissors   
_

_This next exercise works your obliques again, but more in a diagonal than parallel twisting direction. It will strengthen your punches and blocks. Make sure you keep your lower back grounded at all times._

Start by lying in a big "X" position with your lower back flat. Push down on your lower back and lunge up to touch your toes over your stomach. You can roll onto your opposite shoulder and use your grounded arm to help reach your spine up higher.

Return to Start, touching your head back to the ground. Now switch to the other side in the same way as before - always keeping your lower back on the floor. Go slowly at first. Try to reach up as far as you can -the last bit of effort makes this exercise great

Without preamble, Naruto went through 150 reps of scissor kicks while taking the necessary breaks in between sets of fifty. Continuing on with the exercises, Naruto was beginning to feel the effects of his exercises, but he had yet to feel pain of any sort. He was just feeling exhausted from exertion, but the remembering the promise that he made with Ziggy to continue to improve himself kept him from quitting in the middle of the exercise.

Moving on he looked at the next image and saw the man was on his back while leaning off the ground with his elbows. The man was also elevating his legs of the ground in a back and forth motion. The caption had in neat scrawl:

_5. Lateral Hip Lift  
_

_This exercise uses your obliques and lower back muscles to bend you sideways. It's a great exercise to give you upper body stability and armor against powerful roundhouse kicks._

Start with your elbow, hips and feet in a straight line. Push down on your elbow and crunch your lower side to drive your hips up high. Descend slowly to start and repeat. Do not work through lower back pain 

Naruto was actually beginning to feel a tingling at the end of this workout session, but felt that he had enough energy left to finish the last exercise. So breathing a sigh, Naruto looked at the last image of the man exercising and found the man was using a ball. Remembering that the dojo had several balls of varying sizes in the storage shed at the back of the building, Naruto went and retrieved the biggest which was roughly the size of a beach ball. Bringing it back to the scroll, Naruto saw the man balancing his mid section on the ball and moving with his arms outstretched up and down. The caption underneath read:

_6. Back Extension   
_

_This exercise will strengthen your spinal erectors, giving you better posture, balance, and resistance against being dragged down in the clinch. You will feel fatigue in the thick muscles of your lower back, which is normal. Do not overwork them and do not continue if you feel pain tingling along the backs of your hips (potential nerve damage - not good)._

Lie with your hips stable against the ball, legs straight and strong. Relax and hug the ball - the more curl in your back, the better. Push on your hips (yes, hump the ball!) and extend your back upwards. Open your arms up like the beautiful swan you were meant to be. Just kidding. Spread your arms as high as you can, squeezing your shoulder blades to stretch your chest. 

After reading the part about potential nerve damage, Naruto approached the exercise with a newfound trepidation. What if when he was doing the exercise for the past month, he had accidentally damaged a nerve? He vowed then and there to try and not rush into things again. Cautiously Naruto took care to do his sets at a more subdued pace that the other exercises.

It took the majority of two hours to finish his exercises and by then, Naruto could smell the beginnings of breakfast being cooked by Kenshi's servant. Kenshi had servants, but they all lived in another section of town. The servants came every morning before breakfast, and left every night after dinner. Kenshi said that it ensured his privacy when he needed to hold counsel with his veteran samurai after hours on important matters.

Smelling himself and finding him a little ripe, Naruto took care to fold his kimono top and obi while walking over to the back of the house where there was a little well. Drawing a pail of water from the well, Naruto placed it beside the well while he sprinted off into the hallways of the house. Passing the kitchen on his way to the linen closet, Kinshi's servant's voice traveled after him.

"Maki! Make sure to put your towel into the dirty linens this time, I don't want a repeat of yesterday. Also breakfast will be ready in a half hour. Make sure your at the table by then, or you'll not get any. Heh heh!" Kenshi's servant joked. It had become a standing tradition that anyone late for meals made their food fair game to anyone who wanted it. And since Kenshi was the one who set the time the food was served, usually that meant Naruto had to suffer with the lesser portions when he was late for mealtimes. Surprisingly after a few nights of this Naruto never missed another meal.

Grabbing a two towels Naruto went back outside to his pail of water and removed his hakama and underclothes. Dipping one of the towels into the cool water, he ran the damp cloth over his body making sure to wipe the sweat and grime off from his morning practice. After he was sure he was clean, he dumped the rest of the water onto his head and led the water cascade down his body to culminate and be absorbed by the grass.

While drying off with the dry towel, Naruto gathered up his sweaty clothes and wet towel and put then in the dirty linen baskets that were situated by the back door for the servants to clean after lunch. Moving quickly into his room, Naruto put on a pair of fresh underwear and a clean hakama, before refastening his kimono top into his pants and securing his obi in place.

By the time he made it back into the dinning area and into his sitting place, Kenshi was already sitting in place waiting for breakfast to be served. Positioning himself across from the middle aged man, Naruto greeted him.

"Good morning Kenshi! Did you sleep good?" Naruto asked the man seated across the table. The man had his head resting on one of his hands with the elbow propping him up on the table. Lifting his head from his palm to give Naruto a weak glare he replied.

"It is said 'Did you sleep well?' not 'GOOD', and for Kami's sake Maki, don't speak so loudly in the morning. I was up all night last night speaking with the local magistrate about a ninja that had been captured shortly after attempting to enter the seki into Edo."

Perking his head up from hearing the bit about the shinobi, Naruto couldn't help but ask in a rushed voice, "Where was the ninja from? Who was he? How did you catch him? What was he after..." Naruto was unable to finish because Kenshi flicked a small folded bag of powder the size of a coin, that he got from withing the folds of his kimono, against Naruto's forehead.

"When asking questions it is imperative that you keep a consistent speed Maki. This allows whoever you are talking to the chance to answer you. Otherwise you will not have all the answers you want. Nevertheless, the answers to your questions are thus: The ninja was wearing a mask and had no form of ID to ally himself with any village. This leads us to believe he is what ninja call a 'Black Op'. Because of the nature of who he is, the ninja refuses to give his name. He was caught as he tried to exit the only ship that goes from here to the elemental countries. Normally travel between the two countries is prohibited. We don't know what he was after, but his is scheduled to be interrogated this afternoon." Kenshi paused because his servant brought in breakfast. While Kenshi took a brake from his food to sip some of his green tea Naruto asked something that occurred to him.

"Wait, if travel between countries was so prohibited, then how was it that you could come and go? And why wasn't I captured?"

Smiling at the young boy, Kenshi said, "That is because I am one of the Emperor's Generals. It is my duty to undertake yearly visits to the Fire Daimyo to renegotiate the treaty with him. So far, the Fire Nation is the only nation to posses a treaty with Japan. We supply much of the steel that they use to make kunai, and in return we get some of their Fire Temple monks to come here and train the samurais in seals and chakra control. Part of the treaty says that they can't teach ninja techniques to our samurai, but with control over chakra and our own extensive training we find we don't need them. Our sword techniques can rival their strongest attacks."

Widening his eyes Naruto asks with anticipation, "Can you teach me how to do those techniques? Pleeeeease?"

Looking at the boy with a semi frown Kenshi replied, "No. you cannot learn those techniques." before turning back to his food.

"Why not?" Naruto questioned with a tone of astonishment.

"Because you are not ready to learn...and you may never be ready to learn. Tell me Naruto, what would you do with the power once I gave it to you.?"

Naruto thought about it before replying, "I would use it to become Hokage and then protect everyone, and maybe they would recognize me like the Yondaime! I will..."

Taking another nickel-size bag of powder from his sleeve Kenshi flicked it into Naruto's forehead again. After the boy stopped Kenshi explained: "That's what I was talking about. You would use those talents and help everyone, so YOU could become a hero...Thats not helping THEM, that's helping YOURSELF. It's a lie." Taking time away from his lecture, Kenshi looked out of the open shoji window to see into the meditation garden and he got an idea. Turning back to Naruto he saw his head downcast in shame and said, "Maki, Look outside and tell me what you see."

Turning his head Naruto replied, "The lily and meditation stones. Why?" he asked curiously.

"Flowers are wondrous things, they can teach you many things about how to be a true hero. You must learn to be like them." Before Kenshi could continue Naruto interrupted.

"What? Stand up in dirt and smell good?" he said in mock seriousness.

In a sarcastic voice Kenshi replied, "Very funny! Listen to the flowers they can show you how to walk the correct path. Hear the sound of the flowers blooming, only then will you be ready to learn what I can teach you." Ending their talk with a tone of finality, Kenshi left the table to begin his morning abolitions and then do whatever it is he does during the day when he wasn't teaching Naruto.

_Dojo_

Naruto found himself with quite the quandary. This was the first day that he didn't have lessons with Kenshi. Normally lessons took up most his days, leaving him only enough time to do the six warm-ups that were in the scroll. He didn't normally get free time until somewhere around three in the afternoon. Now he had about six hours until lunch was ready. Deciding that it was finally time to start mastering and fine tuning the basic moves of the Yaw-Yan, Naruto kept his workout relatively simple by repeatedly kicking through the first ten kicks and four punches. He was determined to commit the actions to muscle memory before moving onto the other ones.

When he felt tired Naruto took a brake and went into the kitchen where Kenshi's servant had a snack of fresh fruit and green tea waiting. Seeing the young boy enter the elderly lady commented, "I wondered when you would come in. You've been cooped up in that dojo for over several hours now. Kenshi said that Dinner was at seven o' clock and that afterward, you were to clean up at the local sento. He will not be present at dinner because of his work, but he will meet you at the sento." The old lady waited until Naruto finished his snack and then cleaned up.

Returning to the dojo, Naruto continued to do the same fourteen kicks and punches as he did prior to his brake all afternoon. He only took a break only to eat lunch before he went right back to the training. Naruto figured that if he continued doing ten different kicks and four different punches a day then eventually he would become second nature. The goal was to make every maneuver become second nature to him. After the moves were committed to muscle memory, then he could start to form his own Kata from the moves. One of the things Ziggy didn't go over with him was Kata. He said that every move could become interchangeable with each individual situation. As such, every individual person had their own form of using it. Naruto hoped that he could turn the moves into a style of martial arts that he could pass to his family eventually.

After Dinner Naruto gathered his bath things into a woven straw basket and walked down the street toward the local sento. After entering the bath house, Naruto paid the attendant and went to the male side of the changing rooms. After disrobing, Naruto approached the small opening into the bathing area. Naruto had to get onto his knees to enter the room because the opening was designed to keep the hot air in.

After entering the large room Naruto noticed Kenshi laying in the pool at the far end of the room that was reserved for people who had already used the troughs along the wall to rinse and wash themselves. Naruto remembered the first time when he tried to enter the pool first and Kenshi had to apologize to the Matron. Kenshi explained later that the pool was for people to relax and socialize after they had gotten clean. Naruto thoroughly cleaned himself before planting himself beside Kenshi.

Without the Kimono top on Naruto could see the various scars that littered Kenshi's torso. Naruto's, while not as extensive as Kenshi's, was also a sight to behold. He had a long line stretching from is left shoulder to his right hip and well as a line bisecting the previous one at his left pectoral. The intersection happened to be positioned exactly over his heart. The first time he had to undress at the sento Naruto was a little apprehensive, but after a look around Naruto was relieved when he saw most people with scars that match, and even surpassed, his own. Apparently this sento was restricted for samurai and Naruto got a free pass because of Kenshi.

After letting the five year old settle into the pool, Kenshi opened one of his eyes and told his, "I have discussed it with a friend of mine that supplies the army with most of it's weapons, and he has agreed to let you work at his store. It wouldn't be doing much. You would mainly be toting things around for him in the store. Also I know what the ninja was after."

Naruto, who was interested again gestured for him to go on, "He was sent to look for an underfed five year old blond with blue eyes and whisker-like birthmarks on his cheeks. Sound familiar?"

Naruto's eyes widened in fear, and asked, "What was he supposed to do?"

"Apparently he was sent to find out your whereabout and report to the Hokage so he could send someone to return you to Konoha. I promised that if you wanted, you could return to Konoha as soon as your voice healed. Now I present you with that choice."

Naruto thought it over. If he stayed, he wouldn't be able to see the Hokage again. But if he went, He probably wouldn't see Kenshi anymore. The decision was a tough one. Turning to the half submerged samurai he asked, "Would you give me some time to think about it?"

Fully looking at the boy, Kenshi replied, "You would need to think fast. The ninja is being sent back tomorrow. I'll send the Hokage a message with him. After that, It would probably be a few weeks until the Hokage comes himself. Nobody less would be permitted to enter the country. So think real hard. Other than that, you will start work tomorrow." Kenshi got out of the pool and proceeded into the changing room and left. Naruto stayed there with his thoughts long after the last person left.

* * *

**Japanese Words/ Phrases**

_Fusuma_- A three inch thick Wooden cloth-covered Sliding door used to partition the insides of houses.

_Shoji_- A Rice-paper sliding door that is framed by criss-crossing wooden bars for outer sections of houses.

Engage- A veranda that overlooks the Japanese "lawn" that goes all around the house, usually fenced in with a low wooden fence.

_Genkan_- Japanese Entryway where you keep your shoes.

_Waraji_- Japanese Sandals That were made of straw that laced up your leg. (Think Bleach Footwear)

_Seki-_ Huge gates and checkpoints that one must enter through before being allowed into cities.

_Kata-_ A series of martial art moves that flow into one another naturally.

_Sento-_ A Japanese bath house.

* * *

**PS Cookies to whoever guesses the many movie/TV plug ins I've inserted in the various chapters. **

**PLZ R&R THNX**


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N:**

While reading through my first five chapters it occurred to me. I have yet to describe Kenshi in full detail. All I've commented about him so far was that he was a middle aged Samurai with numerous scars on his torso. After debating it, I've decided to not describe Kenshi in detail and instead let you put your own idea of what he should look like. Because as a wise man once said, "You can not put a face to true experience. He is different to everyone who meets him, and doesn't always teach the same lesson to everyone." In this story Kenshi is an expression of the culmination of all experience and wisdom that Naruto will eventually go through. I had no questions in my reviews to answer, so I'm taking that to mean I am doing something right. [Chibi boy doing a little jig in the background while his brother rolls his eyes] I feel I must say again that this story is rated M for gore, and it is apparent in this chapter. Now **REVIEW PLEASE, I NEED THE HIGH THAT READING YOUR REVIEWS GIVE ME TO CRANK OUT CHAPTERS FASTER. Also, Don't hate me for this, but I did something very bad in this chapter. When you finish reading it, trust me that it was necessary and that the little girl is in no way unimportant to the story and to Naruto. She will be important latter on. Sorry!**

* * *

**DISCLAIMER: **

I don't own, refer to chapter one. Music in this chapter belongs to Nightwish - Amaranth

* * *

"Blah" - Talking

"_Blah"_ - Thinking

"**Blah" **- Demon/Summon talking

"_**Blah" **_- Demon/Summon Thinking

"_Blah_" - Jutsus

_Loading Dock (Japan)_

The Sandaime Hokage Sarutobi Hiruzen was currently pulling into Yokohama on the only boat that traveled to and from Hi no Kuni. He was accompanied by several dignitaries of the Fire Daimyo and his two ex-teammates and advisors. The port city of Yokohama looked beautiful in the sunset. The water seemed to be alight with fire and shimmering sparkles, and the sight was breathtaking. The Hokage would have enjoyed it more if it weren't for the fact that Naruto was still missing, and the person he sent to look for him was caught trying to enter Japan.

He had received just a week prior by messenger hawk that the ANBU he had sent after the trail of Uzumaki Naruto was captured before he got a step into Japan. The message went on to include that the Ninja had confessed to being sent by the Hokage. Form there it included a directive from the Japanese Emperor to show up at Edo to explain himself.

Now the Sandaime was on his way to the capitol to explain why he disregarded the non-integration treaty, which strictly prohibited any persons not native to Japan from interring its sovereign soil. The only persons given the privilege were the monks granted entrance every year, and persons accompanied by high ranking military officials from the Emperor's own court. Now the situation was such that Hi no Kuni could lose its yearly iron shipments from Japan, and the Hokage could lose the life of one of his ANBU.

Looking back at his two advisors who were talking to the Fire Daimyo's dignitaries animatedly, Sarutobi could remember the outrage that showed on their faces when he showed them the letter. He had no choice but explain to the two that Naruto had been missing for two months. They were annoyed with Their former teammate, but after several hours of yelling back and forth they were forced to agree with the Hokage's judgment because they couldn't have done anything more than he. It took the combined clout of both Homura and Koharu just to get the Fire Daimyo to ask the Emperor of Japan for an audience. For that Sarutobi was grateful.

Feeling the boat jostle as the Tatsuki was anchored and everyone prepared to disembark. While the others were saying their farewells to the captain, Sarutobi met with the first mate who had introduced himself as Fukutaicho. Earlier that week Sarutobi had been asking around the ship about any children matching Naruto's description. He had surmised that since his ANBU had been captured looking for Naruto in Japan, and the Tatsuki was the only ship allowed transport to and from Japan, then Naruto must have traveled on the Tatsuki as well.

Sarutobi had hit the jackpot after a while when the crew warmed up to them. He found out from Fukutaicho that someone matching Naruto's description. It warmed his heart that the crew seemed to like Naruto very much, and soon his search for info about Naruto led him to an old sailor by the name of Ziggy. It took a little work, but eventually the old man let him know about Maki's (as Ziggy called him) Martial arts training. Sarutobi was very interested to see this Yaw-Yan that the old sailor had taught Naruto, but the old sailor refused to show the Hokage because he wasn't in the mood.

It was from Ziggy's apprentice Akira that he learned about Naruto's first real-life battle. Sarutobi wanted to know everything that happened, and his fears were somewhat appeased when the young man explained how Naruto handled the situation by killing his captor. That impressed the old Hokage very much, and he got a warm feeling in his heart for the young boy that he thought of like his own grandson. After all the hardships that Naruto went through, Sarutobi made a vow then that he would make it up to Naruto, and he would be damned if the council tried to stop him. After all, the council was only supposed to ADVISE the Hokage when he needed it, not order him around like they were.

After saying his farewells to the Captain, Sarutobi and his entourage left the Tatsuki and was accompanied to the nearest inn, so they could rest and head toward Edo in the morning. Looking at the almost set sun, The old Hokage had a feeling that when they reached Edo it was going to be a long stay.

_Blacksmiths in Edo_

Naruto was currently carrying a box of nails that Kenshi's friend, who was currently pounding away at the anvil, had just finished making to the storeroom that was situated right next to the smithy. Naruto had been working for the past two weeks with the blacksmith, as something to do with his free time, between lunch and dinner. Normally he had lessons, but since he had finished the week prior Kenshi replaced them with work.

Naruto would have pitched a fit from having to take time off of practicing his Yaw-Yan, but Kenshi told him to think of working in the Blacksmith's shop as weight training. After all carrying heavy boxes from one place to another required one to build up strength. And since Kenshi refused to increase the weight of his waraji, this would be the only weight training he could actually receive in Edo.

And speaking of training, Kenshi was still adamant about not training Naruto until he could answer his question about the flowers. Kenshi had taken to asking Naruto about what the flowers were saying every time they met for the day. Naruto spent every waking moment trying to ponder the riddle, but came up blank with the answer. He tried to even ask Kenshi's blacksmith friend, but all he would say was that it was up to Naruto to find the answer. Naruto was getting pretty tired of those evasions.

Since his mind was already on Kenshi, Naruto's mind flashed back to the conversation they had the other night...

_Dojo (Memory)_

Naruto was in the dojo practicing the next series of ten kicks and four hits for that day. He had taken to alternated which kicks and punches he did each week. The ANBU was released to Konoha nearly two weeks ago, and so far he had managed to go through half the kicks and punches. He figured that this way he could commit the movements to memory in a couple of months, and start developing katas before the Spring set in. That was the goal that he had set for himself.

Naruto still hadn't decided on what to do about his decision. He really wanted to stay, but he missed some of the people back in Konoha. This was the first year that he spent New years away from Konoha, when normally every year he was taken out to eat with the Hokage and given presents. Kenshi noticed Naruto's state and so he took the boy to the local shrine to prayed for the kind old man. But Naruto also got the chance to celebrate a samurai holiday called Shichi-Go-San where Kenshi gave him his first hakama, so that was a little fun. So everything balanced out, making the decision that much harder.

While the young blond was debating the pros and cons of staying in Edo, Kenshi entered the dojo and watched as Naruto proceeded to attempt a high roundhouse kick. I say attempt because at the momentary intrusion the samurai, Naruto overextend his kick and putting too much weight on his balancing leg. This had the embarrassing result of forcing Naruto to overshoot the kick and land onto his backside.

"Itaiiiii!" Naruto yelled out as he proceeded to rub his sore hindquarters, "Why did you have to interrupt me? I was doing good until you came in."

Kenshi shook his head and replied, "If you couldn't keep your performance up when someone enters a room, then how could you hope to perform in a battle where distractions are abundant? You need to learn to put all distractions out of your mind, so what happened never repeats itself. So tell me Maki, have you heard the sound of the flowers yet?"

Naruto frowned, frustrated at the middle aged man, "Why can't you get my name right? I told you a few weeks ago that my name isn't MAKI, it is NARUTO. Why can't you get it right at least one time? And no, I haven't heard the sound of the flowers. They refuse to talk to me. Why can't you just tell me what they say?" Naruto finished shooting the samurai a weak glare.

Ignoring the boy's tantrum Kenshi replied, "Because MAKI, That was the name I gave you when we started our journey away from Konoha. And until you return from this journey to Konoha, you will remain Maki. Remember though, that even though you may reclaim your name in Konoha, to me you will always be cute little Maki: the boy I taught to read and write, and I saw learning how to tie a knot from a group of swashbuckling sailors." Naruto shot an exasperated look at Kenshi before folding his arms and huffing at the man.

Narrowing his eyes slightly, Kenshi commented in a hard voice that was meant to pass on knowledge, "You shouldn't be so hasty to allow a name to define you Naruto, or control your life. You are in the unique situation of having a very original name, but there are millions of others that have to share their own name with other people. I have given you a name that I believe you may one day come to appreciate, not because it is a grand name,or unique, but because it is so common to everyday people. It is easy to set yourself apart from other people when they don't have to share your name. Think about what is in a name, for a rose by any other name would smell just as sweet. Wouldn't it?"

Sighing Kenshi walked over and put his hand on Naruto's shoulder while continuing, "Modern samurai over centuries, have fallen into the trap of changing their identities to accompany beautiful, flowing, Holier-than-thou names. After all, what future samurai wants to be trained by a man named Oda Kippōshi, when the can be trained by the GREAT Oda Kazusanosuke Saburo Nobunaga who was, in fact, the same person. To me it seems as though they have let their names go to their heads, and forgot the humble origins that they came from. When you are able to stand apart from the many as Maki, then can you truly stand apart as an individual, Uzumaki Naruto."

While Naruto was contemplating his words Kenshi continued, "I came to let you know that the Hokage will be arriving in the port city of Yokohama tomorrow. From there they will come to Edo, so expect a visit sometime the day after. You'll have to make your decision then." Kenshi started to walk away but paused when he heard the young boy whisper behind him. "Why can't you tell me what the flowers are saying?" Naruto seemed to draw into himself, and almost didn't hear the reply, "Because I could teach you a lot of things, but somethings in life you have to learn for yourself. Consider this a lesson, the reward for which is a free pass to learn from me."

Kenshi left the contemplating young boy in the dojo to deal with his thoughts in private.

_Blacksmiths in Edo_

Naruto felt a profound sense of peace come over him after that talk, and couldn't help but admire the older man. It was times like that that Naruto felt thankful for Kenshi taking him in when he did. Walking into the store, Naruto hear humming coming from the back of one of the shelves in the back storage room. It sounded like a the Blacksmith's daughter. Naruto smiled as he crept up quietly to the shelves and peered around the corner.

Misumi was currently bouncing in place, humming and listening to music as she put boxes of scrap metal in place. Naruto liked Misumi for many reasons. She was only about two years older than Naruto when everyone else around him was much older, She was much like Naruto in that she was easily excitable, and she was a natural prankster. The first time Naruto met they naturally hit it off, and her helping out at her fathers blacksmith guaranteed that they had many chances to interact with each other over the two weeks Naruto had been helping.

Another thing that Naruto had liked about the girl was that she convinced the sailors that traveled to and from Hi no Kuni to purchase some of their music and bring it back to her. She played the music on a portable CD player that she kept on her at all times out of sight, even though she knew that it was contraband. Even from behind the shelf, Naruto could see the white cord that stretched from her right ear into the folds of her Kimono and down to her obi, which Naruto knew from experience held her player.

Misumi transferred from humming the song to singing when the chorus of the CD began, and Naruto recognized it as the one she had just received the other day.

"Caress the one, the Never-Fading  
Rain in your heart - the tears of snow-white sorrow  
Caress the one, the hiding amaranth  
In a land of the daybreak"

To Naruto Misumi's voice sounded like an angels, he could have stayed listening for hours. However he didn't have that long to wait, as her father was waiting for Naruto to return for the other boxes to bring in, so he joined in on the next chorus to get her attention.

"You believe but what you see  
You receive but what you give

Caress the one, the Never-Fading  
Rain in your heart - the tears of snow-white sorrow  
Caress the one, the hiding amaranth  
In a land of the daybreak"

Turning around sharply Misumi saw Naruto and her face lit up. Naruto could make out her long black locks which were beginning to free themselves from the long braid that traveled down her back and cover her mesmerizing eyes. Her eyes were a startling shade of Violet that matched her Kimono that she wore that day. Her kimono was the exact shade of violet that her eyes were, and it was trimmed with an orange that seemed to match well with the color. Her obi that held the kimono closed was the same color of orange as the trim. The picture imposed was very breathtaking.

Another thing that both Misumi and Naruto shared together was a love of everything orange. They made quite the pair at work. Naruto with his orange kimono tops with black swirls and her with her varying kimonos all with orange trim. They both just seemed to mesh together. If they were older people might have suggested that they go out on a O-miai, but they were still just children so no one paid any mind.

Taking the speaker out of her ear and placing it into the folds of her kimono, she looked at the box in his arms and said, "Are those the nails that Otou-san finished, Maki-kun?"

Naruto rolled his eyes. He knew she only did that to get a rise out of him, since she heard Kenshi call him that. He had tried to introduce himself as Naruto to everyone, but by the time he could talk everyone had been so used to Maki that the name stuck. Replying with an exasperated tone, Naruto said, "Yes. Where do I put them, they are kind of heavy." Naruto jiggled the box to prove the point.

Leading Naruto to another shelf. Misumi gestured to the middle section, "Over there. After you finish up with your training for today, you want to go see the fireworks that are happening later tonight? I hear they are going to be spectacular." Naruto though about it for a little bit. He had a period of three hours after dinner between seven and nine that he normally devoted to training, but he could skip a night to hang out with his friend and watch the fireworks.

"Sure. You want to meet outside of here after dinner?" Naruto asked since Kenshi's compound was placed further away from the main district of town where the firework display was being held, and Misumi lived over the Blacksmith's with her father.

"Yeah that works. I'll see you then." Walking out of the storage room, Misumi went to man the counter, and Naruto returned outside to the smithy. When he arrived in front of the Large man at the anvil Naruto yelled to get the man's attention, and the man put the long glowing piece of metal that he was working on into a trough of water to cool it down.

Looking towards the young boy, Misumi's father turned to look into his eyes, "What do you want Maki?" Koga, Misumi's father asking in a deceptively soft voice. You would expect this hulking man, whose muscles rippled off his frame like water did a falls, would have a gruff voice. The skin and apron which by now had been tarnished almost to a black from the soot of the pyre just added a sense of masculinity to the man. But every time that Koga had spoken to Naruto, his voice had been soft and soothing. Misumi said that that was to lull the enemy into a soft sense of security, but with her you could never really tell.

Naruto rubbed his hands behind his back nervously before saying, "Misumi asked me to go see the fireworks later on. Would it be alright if we go?"

Koga rubbed the stubble on the edge of his chin before sweeping his gaze up and down Naruto. The boy felt like nervous being brought under scrutiny, but after awhile the man let out a sigh and said, "Fine, but do not leave the area of the fountain. She doesn't know how to get to our house from anywhere but the fountain. Also, there have been rumors of some hooligans kidnapping young children and doing awful things to them. I want you to take care of yourselves, you hear?"

Nodding, Naruto was surprised when he felt a weight settle onto his chest. Reacting instinctively Naruto grabbed the thing before it fell. Looking down, Naruto saw a plain black sheath that held a tanto. The handle was covered in white cloth, with a brass pommel and hilt. Looking up at the towering man, Naruto gave him a questioning look which the bigger man returned, "I'm not expecting you to run into trouble, but if you have to use it, I expect the other man to be dead and my daughter alive. You understand?"

Nodding his head, Naruto tucked the tanto into his obi and secured it to his hakama. The rest of the day passed like any others, and Naruto headed back to the complex to eat and get ready for the fireworks display.

_Koga's Blacksmith (Later that Night)_

Naruto walked up to Koga's blacksmith ready for the firework show. Naruto had switched his orange kimono top for a plain white one, his black hakama was secured with his orange and black obi. Naruto traversed around the building, where there was stairs that led up two the second floor of the storeroom which was the living quarters of the father/daughter duo. Knocking on the door, Naruto didn't have to wait for long before Koga opened up an led him into their sitting room, where they would wait the arrival of their daughter.

Turning to Naruto, Koga asked, "What do you plan to do before the fireworks show?"

"Kenshi told me that there were going to be some street vendors with games, so he gave me a bag of ryo to play them. After the fireworks we might get some candy and then head home." Naruto replied.

Finding nothing wrong with the agenda, Koga nodded his consent. Their attention was brought toward a second set of stairs when a creaking alerted them to Misumi presence. Anyone other than Naruto would have had their breath taken away. Misumi had undergone a transformation from pretty to beautiful, She had switched her previous kimono for a simple white kimono and obi. Her hair was made into a plait that traveled along her back. All together the outfit seemed to glow with a radiance that emanated from her very being. Naruto just smiled brightly and held out his hand.

"Ready to go?" He asked his best friend.

"Yes, I want to get a good seat for the show." Misumi answered, taking Naruto's hand.

_Town square_

Naruto and Misumi was exhilarated by all the sights and sounds. It seemed that everyone was out in force tonight. The streets were littered with food vendors and game stalls that they didn't know where to start. Misumi led Naruto to a fishing game where she won a gold fish. Naruto took her to a man spinning a lever attached to a cage with balls in it. After spinning the lever, Naruto won a stuffed fox that he gave to Misumi also.

The night was fun for the two kids, but nothing was as breathtaking as the night sky when it was lit up with thousands of fireworks. Multicolors blended in to different shapes. Different forms of kanji were formed in the night's sky, and the last firework of the night filled that same sky with a golden hue. The night was perfect for the two kids.

It was after the show that Naruto asked Misumi if she wanted some candy. After quickly agreeing, Naruto left to find one of the candy vendors and left Misumi standing by the fountain. Humming to herself, Misumi spied a moving stall vendor that was selling accessories to people and thought to herself, _"I wonder if Maki-kun would like a necklace to remember our first festival together?" _Agreeing to get a necklace for both of them, Misumi left after the vendor who had been turning down an empty alley. Walking into the alley, Misumi spied the vendor turning another corner, And quickly sped up to catch up to him.

Meanwhile Naruto was at a cotton candy stall buying two sticks of the sugary candy, when he spied an accessory stall that, unbeknown to him, was similar to the one Misumi was chasing into an ally just a few block away. Deciding to get some necklaces to commemorate their first festival, Naruto walked up to the owner of the stall and asked the vendor to show him the different selection. Sifting through all the choices, Naruto's attention was brought to a pair of necklaces. They were each half of the Yin-Yang symbol. On the white Yang symbol was a picture of a black dragon poised to strike, while on the black Yin symbol was a picture of a white tiger prowling. Setting the amount necessary for the two necklaces, Naruto jogged back toward the fountain in the middle of the square.

Arriving at the square, Naruto looked around and felt a shiver of fear run though him when he found that Misumi wasn't where he told her to wait. He remembered the warning that Misumi's father gave him about kids being kidnapped and done horrible things to. So he rushed about asking if anyone had seen his friend.

_Warehouse_

When Misumi regained consciousness all she could see was black, and she felt bindings on her wrists behind her back. Shuffling until she had herself sitting in an upright position, she tried to remember what happened. Training her memory, all she could remember was chasing after the accessory cart before she felt a chop to the back of the neck and unconsciousness. She could hear voices, but the seemed to be muffled as though they were coming from the opposite side of a doorway. Stilling herself she could barely make out what they said.

"Man the boss is sure going to love the one we brought in tonight. Maybe after he's done, he'll let us play with her you think?"

"Quiet! If the boss is feeling generous, then he will let us know himself. Either way, don't expect to be handed anything other than damaged good. The last one broke far too easy."

"Speaking of which, why doesn't he go for someone older anyway? I mean c'mon, kidnapping kids is like taking candy from a baby!"

"Your a fool, you know that? Older women are much harder to kidnap than younger ones. Most of them are accompanied by escorts, and know not to enter dark alleyways. We've been lucky enough not to attract attention from the Samurai guards by taking orphans and runaways that we pick up off the street. Wait what's that?" The two voices pause their conversation probably to look at what the noise was before continuing, "Damn cat. Anyway no more talking!" The guard remained silent from this point onwards.

Taking stock of the situation Misumi thought,_ "So, I've been kidnapped by some bad men who want to do bad things to me. My hands are tied up and my eyes blind folded. If I can bring my hands from behind my back, I could probably chew through the rope."_

Settling on that plan, Misumi stretched and rolled her shoulders every way she could until she had enough slack to slip it under her, and move her legs through. Having moved her arms to the front of her, She removed the blindfold and took stock of her surroundings. It seemed as if she was in a storage room for a warehouse. There were boxes stacked onto boxes, miscellaneous tools on shelves at the wall. There was only one door in and out, and from the shadows coming from underneath the door, it appeared to be guarded.

Looking at the rope that encompassed her hands she saw that it was only held together with basic knots. Naruto had showed her his Knot board several days ago, and she had been impressed. He even taught her how to tie some of the basic ones for herself, but she was nowhere as proficient as he was. Taking in one of the knots she started working the lump with her teeth, loosening it enough that she could undo it and proceed to the next. It took several precious minutes, but she got enough of the knots loosened that she could slide the whole thing off.

Getting herself up, Misumi was deciding if she had enough time to stack the boxes so she could make it through a window that she spied at the very top of the wall, but hearing the guards outside start talking again, she paused.

"Sir, we have the girl we captured in here unconscious. She is bound and blindfolded as per your request." One of the guards exclaimed with an air of formality.

Her decision taken from her, Misumi hid behind a pillar that was positioned close to the door. Behind the column of stone she found a small plank of wood that fit perfectly in her hands. She wouldn't be able to do much with it, but a well placed toss would distract anyone who came through that door enough so she could escape through it.

Hearing the keys to the door scrape into the lock, Misumi prepared herself to run for it. The door opened slowly with a loud CREEEEAAAK! And then there was a moment of silence before a new person spoke that hadn't been neither of her two guards.

"I thought you said she was bound and unconscious in here? Where is she?" the new arrival asked his two cronies. The man was big, but not as imposing as her father was. He had long hair that was a nondescript shade of brown, and the only thing that stood out from him was that he had a scar on his left eye.

One of the cronies spoke up, "She was just here a while ago, and there is no way that she could have made it to the window without us hearing the boxes moving."

The leader with the scar looked around the apparently empty room before turning to his cohorts and order, "She must be hiding among the crates somewhere. Find her and bring her to me."

Deciding that now was the time, Misumi lobbed the hunk of wood across the room where the clanking distracted the people in the room. After the men ran to that spot, Misumi made a break for the door. The handle was just to her had when she felt an arm stretch across her abdomen and the harsh voice of the head goon declared, "I've got you little girl. Men, She's over here." panicking, she did a move that Naruto said was good if she was ever caught bu an enemy, she stomped her heel on the instep of the leader. Sure enough, the arm slacked a bit and she bit the hand holding her enough to taste blood and tore the flesh off before spitting it away. The head goon let her go in pain.

With the arm that was holding her taken care of, Misumi made another break for the door. She just made it out of the doorway when she was tackled to the ground and forced onto her back. The scar-faced man was looming over her with rage in his eyes. Spiting his words into her face with venom he yelled, "You think you could get away with biting a piece off of me do you? Well you've got another thing coming. You took a piece of me, I'll take a piece of you." Taking a knife out of his belt, the man ran it over her cheek before continuing, "Which piece shall it be huh? Should I take your lips? No, I'll need those later. Shall I take your nose? No, I don't want to rape a nose-less freak. I know!" Scarface took his knife and brought it up to near her eyes, "I'll take those pretty eyes of yours. At least you can't turn those lovely violet orbs onto me in anger." After that he brought his knife down towards her left iris.

_Town Square (Shortly before)_

Naruto had been asking anyone he could about where Misumi went, but everyone he asked didn't see her. It wasn't until he had asked an elderly lady about a girl in an all white kimono that he seemed to struck gold. According to the old lady, Misumi had been going after an accessory stand that had been traveling down an alleyway. After following the alley way for a while, Naruto saw something that made his heart stop. Lying in the middle of the street was the goldfish and stuffed fox that Misumi was carrying earlier that night.

Urgently Naruto followed the alley way until it emptied out onto the street several blocks later. As the alley gave way to the street Naruto started to lose hope. His friend could have been anywhere. As he started to trudge down the street to see if she had returned to the fountain, a sliver of conversation caught his ears.

"Apparently some of the guys caught another girl for the Boss. She seemed to be a little young, but that's alright 'cause Boss likes em young. And she sure looked pretty in that white kimono." The voice seemed to come from Naruto's side.

Turning slightly Naruto spied two rough and tumble men that had a tattoo on their left arm that Kenshi made sure to recognize as a group of hooligans that called themselves the Yakuza. They were talking to each other as they passed the alleyway Naruto had been standing in. They were obviously drunk because he could see the red splotches on their cheeks, and they were passing a jug of sake back and forth.

"We should probably go to headquarters, the show is probably about to start. Lets go hear the little bitch scream." The comrade of the first remarked as they headed off in the direction of the edge of town. For the first time that night, Naruto felt the weight on his hip reminding him of the tanto that Koga had given him. The young boy entertained the thought of killing the two men who seemed to be planning to watch something horrible happen to a young girl, but he needed them to lead him to the place where they were keeping the girl.

Following the two drunks was a lot easier to do than Naruto first thought it would be. They weren't exactly being quiet as they traveled to their headquarters. As the two turned around the corner that led to one of the warehouses along the outer of the city. As they turned the corner they seemed to make a sound as if something intrigued them. As Naruto turned the corner, what he saw jarred him senseless.

There laying on the ground, a pool of blood seeming to gush out of her eyes, was his best friend Misumi. Above her was a man with a scar on his left eye, with a dagger that was dripping blood and his two cronies behind him. Naruto felt a rage that he had never felt before in his life. Not even when he brought up images of the ninja that tortured him. If a person were to look at Naruto, the would see the normally cerulean eyes had turned crimson with a slit. His fingernails were elongated into claws, and his canines had sharpened into fangs. He had become primal, and there was no reasoning with him. How DARE they? What gave them the RITE to defile his friend and injure her so? They would PAY!

Throwing himself from around the corner with a bloodcurdling yell, Naruto threw himself past the two guards, who had turned at his commotion, and sliced his new claws through their jugulars, coating his fingers with their blood, before continuing to the warehouse.

In the warehouse doorway, the leader looked up at this picture of infernal rage that had just killed two of his men. The boys only gaze was for him, and at that moment he felt as if he was looking through the eyes of death itself. Ordering the two cronies to attack the boy, the leader began to run away. He didn't make it far before he felt a stinging pain through his Achilles tendons. Looking down, he noticed a white handle tanto stuck to the ground that was in the direct flightpath through the tendons that were cut.

Back at the crime scene Naruto had just thrown the tanto that Koga had given him at the fleeing man. He turned two the two goons rushing towards him, and like it was second nature he started to dodge the two who had unsheathed their swords and were trying to cut him. To the boy it seemed like they were moving in slow motion, and every second they delayed him from his target Naruto was getting angrier and angrier. Eventually Naruto had became enshrouded with a film of red, and thrusting his arms out toward the two goons the red film encompassing his arms stretched out and launched through the two guards. As the arms exited the goons back, there was an explosion of crimson at the exit point. The two guards fell, dead before they hit the ground.

Meanwhile the leader was trying to drag himself away from the demonic boy, but was suddenly gripped with a staggering fear. Hearing the crunching of footsteps from the road, the scarred man looked over his shoulder and saw the most terrifying sight imaginable. A demonic looking child can calmly picking up his tanto and as pleasantly as he pleased cleaning it off while walking to the struggling Yakuza leader.

Smirking to the helpless man, Naruto asked in a calm voice, "So, you are the one that has been kidnapping and hurting children in the area. Now here you are hurting MY best friend. Now what do you think I should do in this situation hum?" Naruto flashed him a sarcastic smile.

The Yakuza was presented with another blast of fear inducing aura from the boy, and rendered speechless. So the boy continued, "Well since you have no suggestions, I propose a trade. You took my friends eyes, so I think it is only fair that I take yours in compensation. Along with your nose, and mouth, and even ears for interest. That's fair right?" grabbing the Yakuza bosses hair, Naruto nods the head in agreement before continuing, "That's what I thought." In a quick movement, Naruto used his tanto to behead the Yakuza boss.

Grabbing the head by the hair, Naruto brought it over to Misumi and was brought to reality when he heard her whimper. Falling to his knees he said, "Misumi! Misumi! It's going to be alright, come on stay with me." Taking his obi from around his waist he tied it tightly around the girls eyes, and proceeded to lift her onto his shoulders, "Stay with me, it will be alright. I'm going to take you to Kenshi's, he'll know what to do." Naruto spied a large money bag next to one of dead guards. It was just large enough to hold the Yakuza Bosses head. Emptying it of its money, Naruto stuffed the head inside, and looped into his hakama.

Racing along the outer street, Naruto raced the several blocks to Kenshi's compound. As he was racing he could hear Misumi mutter in a sorrowful voice, "Why? Why me?"

Naruto had a flashback to when Kenshi was bandaging him up in the woods outside Konoha and what the elder man had told Naruto. So Naruto passed along those words that he had never forgotten, "In this world there are people who do things that are bad. For money, for fame, for power. But you should never try to understand these people, for theirs is not a mind filled with reason. They should deserve your pity and not be given a second thought."

After a few minutes Misumi asked, "What do you mean by that?"

Naruto briefly wondered if he should tell her, but decided to put his faith in her, "Before Kenshi found me and brought me to Japan, I was tortured for over several hours. It got so bad that my vocal chords busted and it took me two months to heal. No matter what, they would never let me pass out. It got so bad that I almost begged for death before Kenshi saved me. He told me that when I asked him why I had been put through that hell, but I followed his words and it eventually got better."

Misumi smiled into Naruto's back before replying, "Thank you for saving me Naruto. I'll always appreciate it."

While Naruto was running to Kenshi's compound he couldn't help thinking about the all words Kenshi had spoken to him two weeks prior, _"You would use those talents and help everyone, so YOU could become a hero...Thats not helping THEM, that's helping YOURSELF. It's a lie...Hear the sound of the flowers blooming. They can teach you how to walk the correct path...Consider this a lesson, the reward for which is a free pass to learn from me." _Naruto felt himself have an epiphany and mentally kicked himself for not noticing it sooner. It was almost as if, Kenshi was expecting something like this to happen. Naruto knew that that wasn't possible, but Kenshi always seem to be teaching him a valuable lesson.

Coming upon the gates of Kenshi's compound, Naruto threw open the doors and yelled out, "KENSHI!!! I need help! Misumi is injured!"

Kenshi ran from within the house and upon seeing the injured girl, He called the housekeeper to get some water, gauze, and bandages. While sending a messenger to get Koga from his home over his shop. It was several hours of never wracking tension as Naruto waited patiently on his favorite Meditation stone, while Kenshi worked on the young girl in the main house. An hour after the operation had began, Koga had come in demanding to know what had happened. Naruto told him the story from what he knew, and he even showed the hulking man the severed head of the perpetrator. After seeing the head, Koga took Naruto into a firm hug and thanked the boy profusely for saving his daughter. After which, Koga settled himself onto another one of the stones with a bottle of sake that another of the maids delivered to him.

After a while Naruto couldn't stand it anymore and asked Koga, "What will Misumi do now that she can't see?"

Pondering the question, Koga answered, "There are some people that can do things even though they can't see. Kenshi know of ways to help someone to develop sight beyond sight, but getting him to teach anyone how to do it is a battle. He hasn't taken a single apprentice in his thirty years of being a samurai."

Naruto got an intrigued look in his eyes and asked, "How old is he?" Koga looked like he was going to answer before a voice answered from behind them.

"Forty-three"

Turning behind them, they saw Kenshi wiping his hands off on a towel. Turning to Koga he said, "Your daughter's eyes were removed, but we stopped the bleeding. She is resting right now, but you may see her if you wish."

Getting up from his stone, Koga walked into the house to be with his daughter. Turning to Naruto Kenshi asked to hear the story from him. After another long drawn out explanation of the going ons of the whole ordeal, Kenshi pulled out a small bottle of green tea and gave it to Naruto to drink.

"I'm going to bring up what you did with the Emperor. You can expect to be given a medal to thank you for your heroic deeds, Maki. Misumi may not look like it, but she is the daughter of a noble. Koga was once the captain of the Emperor's own guard until He retired about ten years ago. The new Captain even still asks him for his wisdom every now and again. I may not say it enough, but I am thankful and proud that you are here with us.

A few minutes of silence stretched out between the two, the Samurai was illuminated against the stone that Koga had sat on by the lunar lilies. Naruto commented offhandedly, "The flowers sound so peaceful tonight, don't they Kenshi? Almost the same as when they bloom."

Smirking at the young boy Kenshi asked, "And what do the say when they bloom?"

Smiling at the samurai Naruto replied, "Nothing! They don't want to show off how pretty they are. They just want to be pretty."

Giving Naruto a beaming smile Kenshi said, "Thats right Maki, I expect you want me to train you now in the art of swordsmanship?"

Giving Kenshi a sad smile Naruto commented, "That would have been a dream come true, but I don't need your attention right now. There is someone far more deserving than I right now."

Raising his eyebrow in curiosity Kenshi asked, "Really now? And who might that be?"

Looking Kenshi in the eye Naruto said, "Misumi! She needs you now more than I do. Koga said that you know a way to help her see without her eyes, but it was almost impossible to get you to teach anyone. So, it is not fair that I now have the one chance to learn, but not the need to. You told me last night that the answer to the riddle would be a reward to learn from you. I give my reward to Misumi. Please teach her." Naruto finished while bowing to the older man. Naruto was shocked when he heard clapping, and when he looked up Kenshi had his hand on Naruto's shoulder. Naruto was even more shocked at what came out of his mouth next.

"Naruto you are truly something you know that? You would give away what most would kill for. And you do it willingly. I agree. Misumi will learn the art of the blind swordsman that was passed down from generations of blind swordsmen. AND you will be there to learn from me as well as my first and only apprentice." Naruto was in confusion at hearing this, and said the first thing that came to his mind.

"But I gave my reward away, and I need to return to Konoha to prove my worth. How can I stay here?"

Laughing Kenshi swatted Naruto on the back and replied, "Because if you had been selfish to keep the reward for yourself, then I wouldn't had agreed to teach you. If this tragedy hadn't have happened, I would have arranged to see if you could truly be self sacrificing enough by testing you some other way. But you proved to be everything I had ever hoped for in a future apprentice. As for Konoha, do you think I would allow a promising person like you back there without some clout?"

Naruto was even more confused now but kept silent, and Kenshi continued, "I, Matsumuro Kenshi, as the Emperor's General will be sending you as my emissary to the Fire Nation to help Japan learn more about the goings on over there. You will also be responsible for opening up possible avenues of trade, when you have become old enough. You will be neither Ninja nor Samurai. You will be a swordsman through and through."

Seeing Naruto about to question him, Kenshi trudged onwards, "Don't worry about the semantics, we will be discussing them with your Hokage tomorrow afternoon when he gets here. Basically, I will train you until it is time for you to enter the ninja academy, then you will go to Konoha to complete their training. But don't think I will not be doing anything. While you are at the academy, I will visit once a month to supply you with skills you will need to work on during that months as well evaluate your preexisting skills."

Understanding dawned on Naruto, and he launched himself at Kenshi thanking him profusely. It took a little bit, but Kenshi got him off and settled down enough to say, "You need to clean up and go to bed, your friend will awaken tomorrow and you can give her the good news." Naruto left to get cleaned and Kenshi looked up at the moon while imagining all the things Naruto will do in the coming months. Kenshi's laughing filled the air as the moon stood bravely in the night sky. Things were sure going to be interesting over the next few years.

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**Japanese Words/ Phrases**

_Waraji-_ Japanese sandals usually made of straw.

_Shichi-Go-San-_ Japanese holiday where children 3, 5, and 7 are celebrated for becoming young adults. (Samurai children are given their first hakama at 5)

_Hakama-_ Samurai pants that have wide leggings at the bottom that tapers at the waist.

_O-Miai-_ A formal meeting, where several families get together with a person (of marriageable age) to discuss possible nuptials in the attempt to find a good match.

_Ryo-_ A form of oval gold coin (Japanese currency) that was used in Edo. It is impossible to know the money conversions because yen wasn't introduced until after the Edo period. I'm using Yen conversions (1dollar = 100yen/ryo)

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**R&R**


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N:**

READ THIS NOTE FOR POSSIBLE PAIRING INFO. I must say that I like the reviews from my previous chapters. And I would like to say that it was very hard on my thinking process to torment a brand new character like that [Sniff]. I thought I was definitely going to hell because of that scene. So don't expect me to pull out another heart wrenching torture scene for a while because my heart just can't take it right now [over exaggerates by putting my hand to my forehead] Now...ahem...[pulls out Reviewer Answers Gavel and pounds it on the podium] I have only one question from INFINITY777 and BROTHER ANGELON about possibility of a Naruto/Misumi pairing? My answer is...Maybe! I had to spend a little while on asking myself what should I do with her? I originally thought of having this fan-fiction be between Tenten and Naruto. But I thought that I could easily fit in Misumi. However, I need to know if my fans approve with doing in that direction. I figured that she and Tenten could share some common ground, what with being blacksmith's daughters and all. I could make it work, with some major conflict thrown in for spice. But know this now, if I do go that way, I will NOT be having any more women getting with Naruto than that PERIOD. I hate multi-pairings that have Naruto get with everyone and their mother, because in most instances like that the storyline goes to hell and the author fails their readers. If I wanted to see smut, I'll go onto ADULTFANFICTION (dot) NET, or to one of the various porn sites out there. This is a place to flex your creative genius people, not jerk your cock and finger your pussy! [Taking a deep breath] Whew! Now that that is out of my system, don't get me wrong! I am perfectly capable of inputting classy sex scenes when the time is write. But they will not become apparent until THE TIME IS RIGHT! Thanks, and on with the show. BTW to celebrate the 30,000 word of my fan-fiction, I will be posting the very first chapter of Fuuinjutsu Naruto. Enjoy!

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**DISCLAIMER: **

I don't own, refer to chapter one.

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"Blah" - Talking

"_Blah"_ - Thinking

"**Blah" **- Demon/Summon talking

"_**Blah" **_- Demon/Summon Thinking

"_Blah_" - Jutsus

_Emperor's Palace (Japan)_

The Sandaime and his entourage was waiting in the antechamber of the emperor's palace. They had gained admittance into Edo just that morning and proceeded directly to the palace. Their group consisted of the Sandaime, his advisors, and several of the fire Daimyo's dignitaries. They had been waiting in the antechamber for quite a while, and the visiting group was beginning to become agitated. Koharu and Homura spoke out as the door to the audience chamber opened to reveal a samurai gesturing them into the room.

"Finally! What was keeping them so long? Don't they know that we have important matters to attend?" Koharu muttered under her breath to her former teammates as they entered the doorway.

"Well I'm sorry ESTEEMED elders. I did not know that we had scheduled this meeting on your precious time." A voice came from across the room, "I did not know that ex-shinobi's time was so valuable, I hope you deign to let us use up some more of it." The voice was seeped in sarcasm.

The group looked across the room and widened their eyes. The room was a grand chamber indeed. They could have probably fit in one of their elder clan's complexes into the one room. Along the wall were dual lines of Samurai in the seiza position, decked out in their finest armor and ready to strike the foreign ninja where they stood if they so much as made a threatening move. Sarutobi knew well the exploits and capabilities of samurai. It was a little known fact, but his clan originally came from samurai. As such, he knew that even with chakra to boost shinobi's speed, the samurai's superior conditioning could help them intercept adversaries before they could even finish gathering the necessary chakra.

At the bottom of the two lines was a raised dais that held only one person, and two guards in the front of it. The two guards wore armor of similar design to the other samurai, but unlike them they were standing with their hands on their sheathed swords. The figure situated behind them was sitting in robes of such splendor, that the Hokage's own ceremonial robes paled in comparison. The figure was sitting in a low-backed throne made of tarnished wood that almost looked black. It was from this person that the previous words came from.

Shooting his advisors a glare, the Hokage bowed lowly to the emperor and apologized, "Forgive my associates for their idiocy! They didn't realize just how important this meeting is to not only the continued alliance of our two great nations, but to one of our best Anbu as well. I realize that you are very busy, and I hope to not waste any more of your precious time, Emperor-denka."

The Hokage puts on a face of humblest regret and bows low again while ignoring the look of incredulity his comrades were shooting him.

Gazing at the bowing man, The Emperor gives a nod before stating to the man, "I feel that your apology is adequate, you may move ten steps before me."

The Hokage proceeds to take the ten steps but is stopped when he hears a commotion behind him. Turning around he is presented with the sight of his ex-teammates being held with swords to their necks, by two samurais that had been stationed at the wall seconds previously. The advisors were in the process of taking their first step. The elderly Hokage heard the voice of the emperor behind him, and turned to address him.

"I said that only you may take ten steps in my presence, no one else. If your advisors take a step they will fall where they stand. I only allowed you safe passage and as such, you are the only shinobi allowed in my lands. The fact that these two strong armed their way into my lands through a loophole as your Daimyo's consultant offends me." The Emperor said with his chin in the palm of his hand with his eyes glaring at the elderly couple, "Make sure that they are kept silent and out of the way. I only want to hear from you, and no one else unless I say. Understood?" The Sandaime nodded his head and gestured to the two to return to their previous spot. After that was accomplished, the samurai that had been holding the two advisors hostage, seemed to vanish back to their previous positions along the wall in seiza positions. The exchange took only a fraction of a second.

"_Amazing!"_ Sarutobi thought to himself, _"That speed was at Jonin level. Are all the samurai this fast? I hope not because if they are, only several of my Jonin could even match it." _The Sandaime quickly went through the list, which surprisingly only consisted of very few names. The only ones that could surpass it was Hatake Kakashi, Uchiha Itachi, and recently promoted Might Gai. Followed closely by Mitarashi Anko but even they would need to warm up their muscles. These samurai went from sitting perfectly still, to battle-hardened and across the room in less than a second. You could say anything you want about samurai, but that was impressive.

Bowing before the emperor again Sarutobi apologized, "I offer my most sincerest apologies for my two companions. They overstepped their boundaries. If it were up to me then I would have gladly came by myself, but seeing as I'm not growing any younger the council beseeched the Fire Daimyo to gain them admittance for protections sake." the Sandaime finished, while keeping his head down.

Clearing his throat the emperor replied, "You may raise your head Hokage, and take your seat." he gestured to the samurai standing at the left end of the dais , and said guard brought a cushion over to the aged Hokage after he finished taking his steps, "Before we get onto the real matter of this meeting, I have an observation to make as well as a question to ask your ESTEEMED associates."

Removing his head from the palm of his hand, the emperor shot a piercing glance at the two elders before commenting, "It seems to me Hokage-sama, that they are not here for your protection, but for Konoha's. I already received word from one of my spies that have been monitoring you since you arrived. Apparently several nights ago when you docked in Yokohama, these two were seen asking very peculiar questions around the inn that you were staying. What do you have to say in that regard?" he finished with his focus solely on the advisors.

Homura and Koharu were a little unnerved, but didn't show it on the outside. They thought their discreet questioning of the hotel staff went unnoticed. Apparently they thought wrong, as they had apparently been seen. Looking to one another they had a moment of perfect understanding. They would try to cover their interrogation up with a more believable lie. After all, the room was filled with only samurai, so what could they possibly know? Clearing her throat, Koharu said, "We were questioning about the whereabouts of one of the orphans in Konoha that had disappeared several months ago. The Anbu that we are here to petition to have freed, was following his trace and was brought to your shores." Pausing to take her breath, she allowed Homura to continue.

Bringing himself up and fully displaying his Five foot frame, he continued, "We were only trying to see if anyone of the workers had seen him since the inn was relatively close to the docks. We apologize if it sent up any red flags, but we swear that our intentions were honorable." Homura finished setting his face into neutral lines, believing that their story was foolproof.

Allowing brief sarcastic laugh to pass his lips, the emperor turned to the Hokage ans said, "Did you hear that Hokage-sama? Shinobi swearing on their honor! That was the best joke I've heard in years." Turning his steely gaze to the two he replied scathingly, "Tell me then, why would a search for one boy need to involve the amount of guards that constantly patrol the port city of Yokohama? Why would you need to know of the road systems of Japan, or the location of my iron mines? WHY would you need to know the amount of samurai that are in the service of my army? You lie to my face and then swear on your HONOR that you weren't?"

Turning to the Hokage the emperor continued, "It seems to me that your council, was trying to gather info that they could use to invade my land and take my resources if our meeting didn't go well today. I only hope that you were unaware of this, because if you weren't then there will be much worse repercussions than there already are. Were you aware?" the emperor asked keeping the Hokage in his sights.

The image of the Hokage's face changed from shocked to angry and turned to face his advisors. They were hunching into themselves from the feeling of killing intent that permeated the room from the elder man. They had not felt this prescience in a long time, this was the aura of 'the God of Shinobi' that they grew up with. Giving the two a look that told them they answer for their actions later, Sarutobi opened his mouth but was cut off by the man on the dais.

"The look in your eyes says enough. I will accept that you were unaware of your advisors intentions, so you will not be given any punishment. However, your wayward lackeys must be judged." the emperor gestured to his left and instantly, Homura and Koharu were shackled by two of the samurai that had been seated previously and taken away from the chambers. "Also, dignitaries from the Fire Daimyo! Leave the room! Our meeting will be tomorrow, if at all! I'm not in the mood right now for your meandering." The foreign dignitaries were led by another couple of samurai out a different set of doors.

Bowing his head in apology, which he was getting tired of doing because of his ex-teammates, Sarutobi asked, "If I might ask, what will their punishment be? I know what they did was wrong, but I still need them in Konoha. Between the both of them, they have the majority of the council in their pocket. If they die a lot of people will want revenge, and I'll be hard pressed to stop them." Looking up to the seated man, Sarutobi gave him a pleading glance.

Adjusting himself in his chair, the emperor shot the elder man a weary look and responded, "When my great grandfather made the treaty with Hi no Kuni, Konoha was just barely a thought. They didn't have much in the way to give us in exchange for our iron that we didn't already have. All they could trade was knowledge on chakra manipulation and some rudimentary sealing knowledge that their Fire Monks had. Imagine that, iron for knowledge!" he rubbed his chin comically.

The Hokage was a little confused about the history lesson, so asked, "And we continue this to this day, but why are you giving a history lesson?"

Looking amused at the Hokage, the emperor replied, "Because it is important. I'm going to let you know something that has never been told to anyone. Several decades after the agreement was settled, the Fire Monks that came had exhausted their supply of paltry seals that they knew that they could teach. Even better, before the first ten years were up we had already learned all the forms of chakra manipulation we could learn from them without actually resorting to have the newly developed Konoha reveal their secret jutsu."

Sarutobi's eyes shot wide, "But then what have we been trading for the iron?"

Smirking at the old man, the emperor said, "Absolutely nothing! And that's why I hate that treaty. You see, after your Fire Monks exhausted their knowledge, My samurai devoted themselves to bettering their craft. As you know Sarutobi, considering your clan originally spawned from samurai, the samurai have a need to progress and perfect themselves constantly in everything they do. They couldn't learn ninjutsu because the ninja guard their secrets jealously, and samurai would never stoop so low as to steal from anyone. So they expanded the only areas they could. Utilizing their swordsmanship and conditioning in conjunction with chakra manipulation, they have developed techniques and abilities that put some shinobi to shame."

Sarutobi nodded his head because it made sense. He remember listening to his elders in the clan say something similar when he was growing up. Seeing the two samurai move almost instantaneously reinforced that concept. But the Hokage couldn't see where the conversation was going, so he decided to ask his question again, the old man asked, "But what does that have to do with my advisors?"

The emperor smirked at the elderly figure's confusion, "The area that my samurai progressed further than any other was the area of SEALS! Over the past two hundred years, they have progressed further in this area than any other country. Fifty years after the treaty the Fire Monks stopped teaching my samurai, and instead started to learn from them instead. Of course every once in a while, they make a breakthrough in seal knowledge. However, my samurai have simply made more of them. The Fire Temple that you think teaches us, actually sends it best to LEARN from us. Most of the breakthroughs that have been made in seals came from us. And most of the greatest seal masters in the world came from US. You should know, when Jiraiya was given Sannin travel papers he came to study seals from us. As well as your Yondaime Hokage. The one thing we are the most proud of is our ability to prevent anyone from talking about our training to anyone who hasn't been here. After all Seals are a wonderful tool."

Sarutobi was amazed at what he was learning, and had a feeling that he was missing something. So he questioned, "Wait a minute! If the Fire Monks were learning from you, and so were some of my shinobi, then why wasn't I informed? I doubt they would keep this a secret from me willingly. And anyone of my shinobi that go on prolong missions are given complete physicals and mental evaluations, I think my doctors would notice a seal that was put on them to prevent them from talking about their experience!""

Clapping his hand in glee, the emperor laughed and said, "That is because they weren't given a choice in the matter. Each Fire Monk that is sent to us, and the few shinobi as well, is branded with a special seal that prevents them from ever revealing this fact physically in any way. And if you somehow try to get it mentally through one of your clans techniques, the seal erases that part of the brain that contains the information. So they essentially have a hole in their memories that they can't get back. And as for physicals, by using chakra manipulation of a special ink we are able to slip the ink through the bloodstream and graft itself directly onto the brain."

The Sandaime was becoming more shocked by the minute as the emperor explained their seal. To think that they progressed so far with seals was unimaginable and a little frightening. Something like that shouldn't technically be possible, but they claimed to have done it. And to several shinobi, and countless Fire Monks as well.

"We were the first ones to have done it, but my generals have told me their sources report about a missing-nin named Akasuna no Sasori who was experimenting with this same idea before he went rogue. It is truly a remarkable invention, I must say." the emperor sighed as he turned to the Hokage and said, "It is this seal that we will administer to your advisors. They will be unable to answer any questions your council may have about our patrols, military might, or iron deposits." Looking regretfully at the Hokage the emperor said, "I'm also afraid that you must undergo the seal as well, you cannot be allowed to share this information. If the other countries got wind of it, they would mass converge and try to steal the knowledge for themselves. You understand right?" Sarutobi nodded his agreement. The knowledge of that caliber was dangerous for anyone to have.

The emperor adjusted to make himself comfortable. Raising his voice, he said to the Hokage, "You may come before my throne now that your we understand each other. Also, I don't want to have to raise my voice any more than I have to." The Hokage realized the significance of this, only the most trusted were allowed to do this. Sarutobi took reserved steps until he was a few feet away from the dais, where the samurai who had given him his cushion had placed a secondary one.

The emperor gave the Hokage a smile and said, "Now we may get to the crux of the problem. One of your Anbu was picked up exiting the Tatsuki while trying to enter the port city of Yokohama. Please enlighten me as to why you would break the non-integration pact of our treaty?" he finished giving the Hokage a questioning look.

The Hokage prepared himself, "The Anbu that was captured was sent on a search and retrieve mission. One of the citizens that resides in Konoha was found missing a couple of months ago. I tried to keep Naruto's disappearance quiet while I was having my Anbu track him down." Sarutobi sighed heavily, "The last message that was sent to me regarding his search was that Naruto's trail had led to a ship that sailed off-land. My Anbu's writing led me to believe that he had already departed on the ship by the time I received the letter. I didn't know the ship he left on was headed for Japan. If I had then I would have told him to return and tried a more diplomatic way to get you to help. I apologize." The Sandaime bowed once again.

Rubbing his chin, the emperor gave the Hokage a shrewd look and replied, "Yes, if you had gone through the proper channels then I would have been more receptive to helping you. Unfortunately your Anbu acted impulsively and now there must be consequences."

Looking reservedly, the Sandaime said, "I understand that there must be consequences, but I humbly ask that you do not punish my Anbu whose only wrong was following my orders. I just wanted Naruto back, and ask you punish me instead."

The emperor looked quietly at the image of a man that humbled himself before him for the life of one of his ninja. Thinking to himself he thought, "_Maybe there is hope for the shinobi nations after all, it takes great humility to admit you were wrong. And to go so far as to take the punishment? I think I'm starting to like this Hokage."_ A voice came from his other guard standing on the right end of the dais.

"What I want to know is why did he send one of his prized Anbu after a mere civilian? Why is he so important?" The samurai that stood on the left side of the dais looked at the Hokage shrewdly, as if measuring the old man.

The emperor smiled at the middle aged man before making introductions, "Hokage-sama, this is Matsumuro Kenshi. He is one of my head generals, and also responsible for maintaining the treaty with the Fire Daimyo every year. And he brings up a very good question. Why would you waste valuable resources on someone that your advisors themselves said was an orphan? That seems counterproductive to me."

The Hokage gulped and debated how to answer that, "The answer to that question is very complicated. Naruto is very special, to me and to Konoha. Even the citizens don't know just how special he is."

Narrowing his eyes, Kenshi questioned the old man, "What makes him so special? The way you speak can mean that he is special to you personally, or he is special to Konoha collectively. What makes a kid that special? Is he part of some clan? If so then why was he beaten and nearly killed on a constant basis in Konoha? Why then was it some stranger that had to rescue him from certain death and not someone he trusts, huh?"

Closing his eyes Sarutobi let out a tear, "I love Naruto like my own grandson, he is just one of the many things that make my life enjoyable since I left my retirement and retook the mantle of Hokage. I've tried to shelter him and protect him, but I couldn't perform my duties and protect Naruto from everyone in Konoha." Sarutobi decided to show a little trust and said, "Naruto is special because five years ago, the Yondaime Hokage sealed a demon in his very own son who had just been born. Naruto was that boy. Somehow the information slipped to the public, and by the time I found who released the information it was too late. Everyone knew that the demon had been sealed in a blond child with whisker marks, but they didn't know that he was the Yondaime's son. Already there was whispers of Naruto being the Kyuubi incarnate, so I made a law that no one was to speak about what happened on that day under penalty of death. Even with all the measures I took it wasn't enough apparently. All I want to do is see Naruto again, please!"

Kenshi's eyes had been getting wider as he heard the details. It was remarkably similar to the dreams that Maki had been telling him about. Finding his voice, Kenshi asked, "Which demon was it that was sealed up?" Feeling dread in the pit of his stomach.

The Hokage lets out the tiniest sigh ans says, "The Kyuubi no Yoko!"

Kenshi lets out the briefest of huffs in annoyance that would have been unrecognizable if he wasn't currently being watched by the emperor who commented on it, "You knew that this might have been the case didn't you?"

Shaking his head Kenshi replied, "I had suspicions, but nothing more. Maki has been having the same dream over the past month about the Kyuubi's sealing. I think something is making him relive those memories over and over. Maki doesn't think they're real because of several inconsistencies."

Sarutobi was confused, "Maki? Who is Maki?"

looking at the old man Kenshi replied, "Maki, or Naruto as you call him, has been staying with me since I found and nursed him back to health. Just last night, I took him and another on as my apprentices. After this meeting is over, I will take you to him. However, there will be some things that we will be ironing out if you want him back. Like keeping his heritage from him, not telling him the truth about his burden, and a few things that will need to be done. We will discuss long and hard those issues."

The Sandaime felt a burden lift off his chest when he heard that Naruto was alive and well. He had been dreading that he would never see the hyperactive blond again. He allowed himself a brief smile, before settling into a more reserved posture.

Deciding to pass sentence the emperor spoke, "I'm going to pass sentence now. Do not speak and bring in the accused."

From a door across the room, a man was brought in between two samurai. It was clear that the person brought in was Anbu based on his uniform. His mask was clipped to his belt and his arms restrained, one glimpse at the spiked silver hair let him know that this was Inu a.k.a. Hatake Kakashi the Anbu Sarutobi sent to find Naruto. He didn't seem to be harmed very much, other than a few tears in his clothing and a bandaged shoulder. the emperor waited until the accused was brought half way into the room before continuing.

"Anbu! You are here to stand charges against entering the sovereign nation of Japan. We have heard from your leader that you entered unknowingly onto our lands, and you were led here only because you were following orders. I have decided to be lenient this once and not forfeit your life. Instead, you will undergo having your memories of your time in Japan sealed off and put in a forced coma until you leave. Do you have any qualms about this Hokage-sama?"

Sarutobi shook his head in the negative and stood still. the emperor continued, "Sandaime Hokage Sarutobi Hiruzen, While I recognize that you didn't mean for your Anbu to enter my lands, the fact remains that he did. It is because of this that Konoha is in violation of the non-integration agreement of our treaty. Therefore I now name the treaty null and void. No more of Japan's iron will be shipped to the Fire Nation until an agreement of reparations are made, and a new treaty can be worked out in one years time. I will leave discussions of reparations to my General Kenshi and he will take care of the formation of the new treaty. This matter is dismissed and I bid you good day." Picking himself up from the low backed throne, the emperor left the room a contingent of samurai following him.

After the emperor left, Sarutobi heaved a sigh of disappointment. He turned just in time to see the samurai called Kenshi put a paper tag to Kakashi's forehead and the dog Anbu fell down. Sarutobi assumed that Kenshi had just put the man in the forced coma that he was sentenced to. Walking up to the stoic samurai, the Hokage said, "It's a shame that Konoha lost it's treaty with Japan. Now what will we do without the iron?" Kenshi's reply was unexpected.

"You'll have to make due. The emperors of Japan have been trying to abolish that treaty for about a hundred years. We were being given nothing for our resources, and you were given BOTH iron and advanced seal knowledge. However, we couldn't abolish the treaty without just cause, you merely provided the cause. Now we can start making a new treaty that mutually benefits BOTH of our nations. Now follow me and we'll put the seal in place and go see Maki. But don't think you'll be taking him away from here just yet. We have many things to discuss about my apprentice. Now I'm afraid that I'm going to have to put you under so you wont be tempted to escape from the seal. Understand?" After receiving a nod from the Hokage, Kenshi took out a piece of paper and placed it onto Sarutobi's forehead. As he felt himself slip into darkness, the Sandaime felt Kenshi pull him over his shoulder and start to walk away.

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**Japanese Words:**

_Seiza_- A Japanese position of sitting where the persons knees are together and the rest on their lower heels.

_-Denka-_ A Japanese Honorific, representing a sovereign that does not rule the land you live in.

_-Sama-_ A Japanese Honorific, recognizing respect for a person who is higher in status than you, (In the story, The Emperor was showing respect while the Hokage was showing greater respect.)

_Sannin-_ Group of the three strongest ninja's in konoha.

_Kyuubi no Yoko-_ Nine Tailed Demon Fox

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**NEXT TIME: _NARUTO AND THE HOKAGE MEETS AT LAST_**

**READ AND REVIEW PLZ **


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N:**

I apologize that it took so long to post out the next chapter of Tsurugi no Tenrai Hogosho[Bow head in apology]. However, if you would go to my profile page, you would see that I updated my first chapter of Fuuinjutsu Naruto[holds up peace sign]. Let me assure you all that I will, in no way shape or form, not be updating that story regularly. I will be adding on a chapter after every mile-marker this one goes. So after this story has reached the 50000th word, I will update Fuuinjutsu Naruto another chapter. So rest assured. On an unrelated note: I'm just all a'tingle with your reviews[touches self inappropriately]. I honestly love your honesty...Honestly. And good reviews make me excited about continuing onward. Now...[Pulls out podium, and reaching under pulls out dildo..."How did that get there?" Tosses dildo away, and pulls out gavel] Time for review questions and answers [Smacks gavel down] First, PETER KIM asked, "Why should Naruto go back to Konoha, who treated him horribly?" the answer: He doesn't HAVE to...He WANTS to. It has always been Naruto's goal to become Hokage, so everyone would respect him. Just because he was taken away from that hurtful environment, doesn't mean his desire to prove himself to them has abated. He needs to prove to himself he is better than them, going to Konoha after training will do this. All will be explained in this chapter. DARKRAVIE asked, "Could the nightmare forced sleep those Chuunin gave to Naruto before he was tortured still be in effect in some way?" my answer: What the _Akumu Nerumi no Jutsu_ did was open up a part of Naruto's brain that held his earlies memories. Scientists theorize that from the moment we have cognizant function, even if it's just, "I'm hungry, cry!" our minds start to record the events around us. Most people can't access these memories, but in traumatic experiences the body can force itself to relive them. It is rare, but it does happen. Naruto is reliving one of these, but he doesn't know that.

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**DISCLAIMER: **

I don't own, refer to chapter one.

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"Blah" - Talking

"_Blah"_ - Thinking

"**Blah" **- Demon/Summon talking

"_**Blah" **_- Demon/Summon Thinking

"_Blah_" - Jutsus

_Japanese Temple_

Sarutobi was awoke to the sight Kenshi pulling back the tag that rendered him unconscious. Looking around the room, The Sandaime Hokage realized that he was on a stone table. The room looked like some sort of workshop. Pots of what he assumed was ink was stored in cabinets that were spread around the room. Scrolls were suspended against the wall in wooden shelves that had slots for the individual rolled up papers. Kenshi gestured for the Hokage to get up from the table, and hesitantly he complied. Monks were cleaning up the area around the table, making sure that nothing from the elaborate sealing array remained. Taking the old man by the arm, Kenshi led the Hokage from the room and down long hallways.

Not being able to bear the silence, Sarutobi asked the middle aged Samurai, "How long was I under?"

"About an hour. The sealing went off perfectly, and if you or your advisors try to even speak of Japan's secrets, the information will be wiped from your minds. Your advisors however, will not be permitted to leave their cells for the duration of your stay." Kenshi finished leading the Hokage through a doorway that lead to an antechamber.

"They're not being hurt are they?" Sarutobi asked with anxiety.

Looking at the old man, Kenshi replied, "I use the term 'cell' loosely. They are being held in a room with no windows that is seal from within to prevent chakra use. The guards are to only allow a maid in for their meals, and to exchange their chamber pots. Other than the security measures, the rooms are quit lavish and are supplied with reading material for them. They will not be uncomfortable. We just want them to be out of our hair, not to start a war with the Fire Nation." Kenshi took a seat beside an elaborate looking chabudai.

Breathing a sigh of relief, Sarutobi took the seat across from the samurai. Several servants brought in a teapot and several mugs. After supplying the two occupants of the table with a nice mug of steaming green tea. Sarutobi spoke to the quiet samurai, "We've never formally been met. My name is Sarutobi Hiruzen, the Sandaime Hokage of Konohagakure. Yoroshiku onegai shimasu!"

Kenshi took a sip from his cup of tea before replying, "My name is Matsumuro Kenshi. One of the Emperors generals, and trusted advisor. Yoroshiku!"

While taking a sip of his own cup of tea, checking first for poisons (ingrained habit), Sarutobi took a good look around the antechamber. The room was furnished in the typical Japanese style, there was even wall scrolls hanging to either side of an altar against the wall. Incense was burning from the altar, and filled the room with the scent of sage and lavender. Sarutobi asked Kenshi where they were after he put his cup aside.

"We are in a separate wing of the temple that most of our priests train your monks in further Fuuinjutsu. Naruto is at my complex looking after one of his friends that was recently hurt." Kenshi said taking a deep sip of his tea.

"Is Naruto alright? Why did you take him from Konoha? Why hasn't he contacted me since he left?" Sarutobi would have continued on, but he was caught off guard as Kenshi let out a boisterous laugh.

"You are just like Naruto! You ask questions, but you never give anyone the time to answer them. Naruto is fine, and we will get around to discussing him in a little while. We must first get business out of the way before we can start to discuss anything else." Placing his cup down, Kenshi leveled the Hokage with a neutral look.

Remembering what the Emperor had said when they were in his audience chamber, Sarutobi gave the samurai a reserved look before saying, "I understand now that the treaty has been unequal to one of the parties, Konoha has prided itself for years on being a morally fair village. I apologize!" Sarutobi bowed to Kenshi and waited for the samurai to speak.

Looking at the old man with his head still bowed, Kenshi replied, "It is not the fact that your ninja, and Fire Monks came to us for learning that we despised. What we despised was that through the treaty we were not being paid for our skills. Hundreds of years of perfection and innovation just being given away. Every seal user that comes from your village, essential does it from pirating our life's work. Anyone that doesn't get accepted to learn from our priests, just reverse engineers the seals of those who do pass gain our acceptance. Is that fair?"

Lifting his head, Sarutobi shook it negatively was answering, "No it is not fair. If I could stop it I could, but the damage has already been done. Those who have reversed engineered your seals, have already spread scrolls throughout the village. It would be impossible to find them all."

Nodding his heads at the old man's words, Kenshi replied, "That's why instead of stopping the spread of our knowledge, you will be paying Japan for two hundred years of learning. As you can imagine that would most likely force your economy bankrupt."

Sarutobi's eyes had been opened wide in the thought of being forced to pay that much amount, Konoha would be ruined. His fears was put to rest when Kenshi continued, "That's why we will not be requesting money. What we will be requesting for the price, is one of Konoha's priceless treasures. That will be more than enough to pay us back for our tutelage." After Kenshi's explanation, Sarutobi weighed the options. Risk one of Konoha's treasures, or ruin the village itself. The Hokage decided that the blow from losing one of Konoha's priceless treasures was better than losing Konoha itself and readily agreed.

After attaining the Sandaime's agreement, Kenshi continued, "After payment is received, we will then begin to renegotiate the treaty between our great nations." Kenshi resumed drinking his tea.

Wanting to know a little bit more, Sarutobi asked, "Is there any way you can generalize what we might expect from the new treaty. I know that the council will be interested to know what they will be losing in the deal."

Giving the Hokage an amused glance, Kenshi replied, "Tell me Hokage-sama. Why is it that your council is losing anything. They are not supposed to have any power at all. I am on the Emperor's council, true. But the Emperor only calls me when he need ADVICE, not when he need PERIMISSION. Your council seems to be backwards. I seriously suggest that you clean up your council before you think of any further treaties with us."

The Hokage sighed and said, "I would, but my teammates has the backing of the Citizen Council and the Daimyo's ear. I only ever followed their suggestions because Naruto was a civilian, and therefore under their control. At the way they were going, by the time Naruto was a shinobi and under my supervision, I would have given the majority of my power away to them."

Kenshi smiled, "Then it was a good thing that I found Maki when I did. It saved you from giving up more of your power."

Sarutobi looked confused, "Maki? You said that name in the meeting, but I didn't know who you were talking about. Who is Maki?"

Flashing the Hokage a mischievous look, the samurai answered, "When I found Naruto, he was unable to speak. So while we were eating, Naruto was gesturing at himself and a piece of Naruto-maki. I knew what he was trying to say, but I decided to teach him a lesson in names. I called him, and introduced him as, Maki for the entire length of his stay here. By the time he was able to speak, everyone just got too used to calling him Maki to just change it."

Hearing that, Sarutobi got a smile before asking in a worried voice, "What do you mean he was unable to speak?"

Placing his cup down, he said, "When I found him, Maki was tied up being used as target practice for kunai and shuriken. He had been screaming so much that his vocal chords had ruptured. It took a good two months before he was able to speak again. I killed the ones responsible, and brought Naruto here to recuperate. He has been having fun, and the only time I've seen him sad was when his friend was hurt, or he is remembering the few people he liked in Konoha. He talks all the time about a father/daughter team of ramen stand owners, and also about his Jiji. I'm assuming that's you?"

The Hokage felt a tear run down his cheek as he nodded thinking to himself, _"Naruto, you've been through so much. How could I repay you?"_ Kenshi continued after a few minutes.

"Naruto's best friend Misumi was recently blinded. It is for her that I want Konoha's treasure. I have heard that deep beneath the Hokage Monument is a series of catacombs. One of them leads to Konoha's greatest treasure, a cavern of rock that leads to a well-spring of chakra stones."

Realizing what the samurai was talking about Sarutobi's eyes shot up in surprise. That cavern was kept as a total secret. Only the current and past Hokage's knew bout it. The stones in that spring had the ability to soak up vast majorities of chakra from the spring. In the beginning of Konoha's foundation, those stones were used by the Hokage's as a backup if they ever needed to fight an ungodly amount of enemies. The stones were kept full of chakra, because the spring they rested in was constantly being saturated with Natural Chakra.

Seeing the recognition, Kenshi continued, "I need two of these stones, but not just any two. I need them to be the size of an eyeball. And they cannot be the regular kind that contain chakra in them. Understand? They must be completely void of it, a brand new stone untouched by the well-spring. This will be the price of the countless years of learning your ninja have gotten from us."

Seriously thinking for a little bit, Sarutobi realized that this would not be easy. When the stones were absorbing the chakra, they were gray. When they were full, they were white. Finding an empty black stone was rare because it was only mere moments after the black stones were formed in the water, that they started to absorb the chakra in the spring. Theoretically it was possible to take the black stone after it was newly formed from the spring without it absorbing chakra from the pool. But in actuality, it was hard because the moment it formed the water touching it began supplying chakra. Add that to the fact that the stones were nearly impenetrable to damage, so molding it into the size of the eyeball was extremely difficult, and you had one very impossible task.

Giving the samurai a glance, Sarutobi said, "I know of the well-spring that you speak, but before I agree I have to ask. Why do you need a void chakra stone?"

Giving the old man a smile, Kenshi replied, "Because Naruto has asked me to teach Misumi the way of the ZatoKiri. However, against opponents that she will eventually face, she will need an advantage. I need one of these void stones so that I can have seals grafted on them. The seals will turn the stones into a man-made Doujutsu. I need the stones to be void stones, so that the stones will draw Misumi's chakra themselves when I teach her how to unlock hers."

Understanding Kenshi's reasons, Sarutobi promised to get those stones for Naruto's friend, "I will insure they are delivered to you myself. It might take a little while, but you will probably be teaching her to unlock her chakra by then."

Nodding to the Hokage, Kenshi commented, "After the payment has been received, you will have to get your council back under command, then we can talk about a new treaty."

Pleading to the samurai, "But how can I do that when they have the Daimyo in their back pocket. Anything I do against them will have them running to the Daimyo, and then the threat of losing money to my village will have me doing what they say anyway. Either way, I'm trapped."

Rubbing his temples, Kenshi was struck by a bright idea, "Why don't you tell the Daimyo that Naruto is serving as your correspondent with the Emperor through me. Then if the threaten to go to the Daimyo, you can threaten to go to the Emperor. The Daimyo could cut your funds, but we would cut the Daimyo off from our Finest silks, jewels, and artworks. The Daimyo's Court would then rise up in an outrage that all their precious commodities were gone, and he would have to go to you to get them back."

Sarutobi was shocked, that plan could work. However, "But what about the money those things make for Japan?"

Smirking Kenshi replied, "We survived for countless years isolated from the outside world. Do you think we actually need their assistance to do so now?"

Sarutobi smiled warmly at the brilliance of Kenshi's plan and had to agree with him. The Council wouldn't stand a chance. Giving the samurai a bow, the Hokage stated, "I will get onto those stipulations in Konoha immediately once I get back. Here's to a long and prosperous relationship between our two Nations. Kampai!" They both finished their teas and got up.

"Shall we go see what Maki is doing, huh?" Kenshi led the Hokage out of the temple, and onto the street to his complex.

_Kenshi's Complex_

Black. That was the first thing that greeted Misumi as she awoke. At first, she didn't understand why there was nothing but black. Using her hand, Misumi felt over her face and felt bandages wrapped over her eyes. Then the events from that fateful night replayed themselves in her head. She remembered the pleasant evening with Naruto, the fireworks display, and following the accessory vendor into the alley. Misumi felt a chill of dread when she recalled being captured by thugs and then the horrible sensation of a knife being plunged into her eyes.

"_I'm blind!"_ Misumi realized to herself, and let out a quiet sob.

Naruto, who had been sitting against the wall asleep, awoke to the sound of crying. He had been watching Misumi all night, and didn't know when he had fallen asleep. Looking up at his best friend's form, he assumed she was awake and got up. As quiet as he could, he walked up to the quivering girl and placed her shoulder in his hand before speaking out.

"Misumi?" He asked the crying figure, "Are you awake?"

Naruto was surprised when his best friend latched out and hung onto him as if he was her last lifeline. He could hear her sobs and patted her shoulder gently. Hugging her quivering form, Naruto gently rocked her back and forth until her cries had abated. When Misumi got a hold of herself enough, Naruto gathered enough strength to speak.

"It's alright! Everything will be all right. You've been resting all night, your father is in the guest quarters. You should be thankful that Kenshi was able to stop the bleeding in time. He said that you were going into shock at the end, but everything is fine."

Turning her head to the younger teen in anger, Misumi asked a little heated, "How? How is it FINE? I'm blind! I can't see, and will not be able to see again! Tell me what I have to be thankful for? I've got nothing to look forward to now except NOTHING. You hear me? Nothing! "

Recoiling with a little shock at his friends tone of voice, Naruto felt a little ashamed at his insensitivity. But Naruto also couldn't stop himself from feeling outrage and started to reply just as heatedly, "You don't know what your saying. What do you have to look forward to? I don't know? How about your LIFE? You have a father that loves you, and was up all night scared that his daughter wouldn't make it. Kenshi has been here off and on all night just to make sure you were doing all right. I would say you have a lot to be thankful for."

Misumi was shocked to hear Naruto reprimand her. Never before had the young boy done such a thing, and she was a little apprehensive. Turning to her friend she let the last vestiges of her anger loose with her last question, "And how am I supposed to enjoy them. I can't see. How am I suppose to live? I can't help father with his shop anymore now that I'm blind. What am I supposed to do."

Naruto took a calming breath. And after a few minutes, he responded, "You learn to deal with it. I will help out your father, and Kenshi has allowed you to learn under him. He says he knows a way to let you see without your eyes. Turn your problem into something good. And I will be there right there with you." He took Misumi in his arms and gave her a hug.

Misumi sniffled and hugged the blond back. The door to the room slid opened and the two youngsters hear Misumi's father say, "I heard some noise is everything alright?"

Misumi rubbed at her eyes instinctively before realizing that they were bandaged and so the tears weren't running down her face. Releasing Naruto she turned toward her father and said, "It's alright. Naruto and I was having a small fight. It's alright now." Misumi turned back to Naruto and apologized, "I'm sorry Maki. I didn't think about nothing but myself. I'm sorry."

Koga saw his daughter up, and quickly rushed to he side. He showered her with kisses and hugs whispering things incoherently between them. Naruto could barely make out words like "I Love you" and "Missed you" and "Scared to death" before he decided to give them a couple of minutes to themselves.

Naruto said, "It's OK. Hey I got something for you at the fireworks display. Hold on a second and I'll be right back with it." Naruto rushed out of the room, intent on finding his items for Misumi.

As the door closed again, Koga let out a gentle laugh. He settled himself by his daughter and took her hand into one of his. Rubbing his thumb across the back of her palm, he said, "You have a great friend, not many would do what he did for you."

"What do you mean? Carrying me across to Kenshi's place?" Misumi asked.

Koga smiled and said, "Aye! And more." Misumi could hear the mirth in her fathers voice.

"What else did he do?" she asked with a little sense of trepidation.

"Let's just say that the people who did this to you, will never be seeing the light of day again as well. They got just what they deserved." After he saw his daughter make an 'O' with her mouth he continued, "He killed them and gave me the lead man's head in a bag. You can rest safely knowing that he will never do what he did to you on another person again."

Misumi let her father's words set in before she brought up something that had been on her mind, "Naruto said that Kenshi would teach me to see without sight, how could that be?"

Koga gave his daughter a sad look, which she couldn't see, before explaining, "I'm sorry to say this, but now because you are blind you can't stay and help me in the store. And as much as it pains me to say it, no man in Japan wants to marry a blind woman."

Misumi had a frown on her face as she recalled the local gossip around town. To everyone in Japan, blind people were on the lowest social latter. Just a step up from beggars. In fact, a lot of people spoke of the blind in the same sentence as the retarded and perverted. She realized that now she would be considered among them now, but the thought made Misumi feel outraged. She put aside her feelings and pressed on with her question, "But how is Kenshi going to help?"

Koga smiled and said, "Kenshi and I were speaking about that just last night. Kenshi had found some Stories in his archives several years ago. They told the story of a blind swordsman named the ZatoIchi. This was a man was the lowest of the four rankings of the Todoza, which was a guild of blind people back a long time ago. ZatoIchi at first appeared to be a harmless blind anma who wanders around the country, making his living by gambling as well as giving massages, performing acupuncture, singing and playing music. However, he was also highly-skilled in swordsmanship."

Misumi was curious about where her father was going with the story so she gave him her undivided attention as he continued on, "A recurring theme of the stories is Zatoichi protecting the innocent from oppressive or warring gangs, and investigating/stopping general injustice. His fighting skill was incredible, with his keen ear, sense of smell, and proprioception (the ability to tell the position of all the neighboring parts of his body in relation to himself) he was a truly frightening opponent. There was parts of the story that said his hearing was so good, he could tell when the dice landed on even or odd while gambling. Oftentimes he would break apart gambling dens that used loaded dice while fighting with his shikomi-zue, katana, or even two katana on better footing than most people with sight."

Misumi couldn't contain her curiosity and had to ask, "I'm grateful for the story, but why are you bringing this up? What does some musty old scroll that Kenshi found a long time ago have to do with my present situation?"

Koga smiled and said, "Because after studying those stories extensively. After several years of exploring all the different fighting styles that have been utilized in both Japan and the Elemental Nations, Kenshi used his vast knowledge and ability to create a way to train someone like ZatoIchi. He called the style, the ZatoKiri."

"He called the sword-style 'The Blind Limit'? Why would he call it that?" Misumi asked her father.

"Because it will allow the user to surpass the greatest limitation set by blindness: The inability to see the world around you. This style can let you see without your eyes and perceive the world around you, sometimes even better that others with their eyes. And he has chosen YOU to learn it." Koga informed his daughter. Even without her eyes, Misumi was able to hear the excitement in his voice and imagined how his face would have looked.

She couldn't help but ask, "If the style is so great, why haven't I heard of it before?"

Koga gave his little girl a curious glance and replied, "Two reasons. First, Kenshi doesn't share any of his styles with anybody without extenuating circumstances involved. Second, I hardly doubt you would have checked up on possible ways to combat blindness before today. You wouldn't have needed to because you never expected to be blind."

Misumi blushed a little, but got back on track, "But if Kenshi doesn't share his techniques with anyone. Then why did he choose me to learn this style? I know he's your friend, but I doubt that you are THAT close that he would give up such a secret willingly." There were a few seconds pause after this statement, but when her father replied it was with a solemn tone of voice.

"That's why Maki is such a good friend. The only thing that Naruto wanted for the past month, was to be trained by Kenshi. From what I heard, Kenshi asked Naruto to answer a riddle. What I understand is that the day of your 'incident' as he was carrying you here, he figured out the answer. When Kenshi asked him when he wanted to start, Naruto pleaded with him to take YOU on instead. He was willing to put aside his own happiness for your sake."

Misumi sniffled and attempted to wipe a tear away, but remembered that the bandages prevented her from crying. Koga could barely hear her whisper, "That blond idiot. Always being so noble." She rubbed her nose and pulled herself back together. After she had some semblance of control, she asked, "What will Maki do now that he wont learn from Kenshi. I don't want to be learning if he can't as well."

Koga smiled and said, "You wont have to feel bad. Since Maki showed himself to be so noble and self-sacrificing, Kenshi has decided to take you both on as apprentices. Maki will be the successor of his 'Tsurugi no Tenrai Hogosho' and you will be the successor of his 'ZatoKiri'. After that, who knows what Kenshi will have in store for you both, but you can be sure that it will be together." Giving her one last hug, the door to the room opened and in walked Naruto carrying two boxes.

Settling on the other side of Misumi's futon, Naruto opened both boxes and let his friend hold both the necklaces. Misumi could feel that the necklaces had some sort of engraving on them but she couldn't make them out. Speaking up, Naruto said, "I saw these at the fireworks display and though you would want one remember it by. But with everything that happened, I decided that they should mean something different to us. These are a symbol of my promise to always be there when you need me the most. In your right hand is a black Yin symbol that is engraved with a white tiger. While on your left is the white Yang symbol that has a black dragon on it. Pick which one you want." Naruto finished while waiting for his friend to decide.

Misumi was touched, and the necklace in her left hand she tied the piece of jewelry around Naruto's necks. After the object was safely fastened, she gave him a little peck on the cheek and said, "Thank you for everything Maki. I'll treasure it always. You should keep the Yang symbol, it fits you. I'll take the Yin." She fastened her own necklace in place and felt the weight around her neck comforting.

Naruto was rubbing his head and blushing a little from Misumi's kiss on his cheek. Koga was taking in the two children's interaction with an amused smirk. Not being able to help himself, he asked, "So Maki, what are your intentions with my daughter?"

"Daddy! Your embarrassing me." Misumi rebuked her father who was laughing on his side of the room. The door to the room opened again and Kenshi poked his head through the doorway. Noticing the trio in the room, two blushing kids and one laughing adult, Kenshi commented, "Oh good your up! I hope you are feeling well Misumi?"

Turning to Kenshi's direction, Misumi replied, "I feeling better now, just a little aching around me eyes."

Nodding in understanding, which Misumi couldn't see, Kenshi replied, "That's to be expected. I'll have one of the maids clean and replace your bandages later today. Now Maki!" Kenshi got the young boy's attention, "There is someone hear who has been missing you greatly for about two months. He is waiting for us in the Sitting Room. Ready to go see him?"

Naruto's eyes lit up as he recalled that Kenshi said the Hokage would be in Kyoto that very day. He had forgotten, understandably so, with all the things that had been going on. Giving his friend one last hug, he got up and went with Kenshi. The traversed the hallways until they reached the door leading to the sitting room. Naruto was suddenly nervous about meeting the Hokage again. So many things had happened since he had last seen the old man. Sensing the boy's apprehension, Kenshi lightly squeezed Naruto's shoulder in support. Taking a deep breath, Naruto slid open the Sliding door.

_Front Gate of Kenshi Complex(few minutes earlier)_

Kenshi and Sarutobi arrived at the front gate of the samurai's complex. When Kenshi opened the gate to his home, the Hokage was amazed by what he saw. There were little stone pathways leading all throughout the grounds in swirling spirals. He noticed that each winding pathways led to several large slabs of stones spread through the meditation garden. There was even a little circular pond filled with crystal white sand, which Sarutobi had no clue as to why it was there.

Leading his guest down one of the stone pathways that led through the gardens and by the dojo, Kenshi informed the old man about the complex, "Welcome to my home Sarutobi-san. This place has been in my family for countless generations, each new generation of owners adding something new to the grounds. My great- great-grandfather built the dojo. For over two hundred years my family has been taught the way of the samurai in that building. And each and every one of them has been the best warriors to ever grace the Emperors military."

"Where is your family, the complex seems very empty right now." Sarutobi said as he looked at the middle aged samurai.

Turning to the Hokage, Kenshi said with a neutral look, "Being the best is very overrated. By becoming too strong, they became the favorites of the Emperor. In gaining the Emperor's favors, they gained many enemies in the imperial court. The cowards hired assassins to kill all of them, hoping that by doing so they could possibly secure themselves in my kinsmen's place. My relatives are the best warriors alive, but no one can survive constant assassination attempts every day of the week. Eventually the succumbed to their assailants and died. We were never a really big family to begin with, and now I'm all that remains."

Sarutobi was shocked, even his council knew better than to attempt that. If he ever got a hint that they did something so despicable, then he would personally see to their execution. He was about to apologize for his insensitive words, but was stopped by what Kenshi said next.

"That's why I have been looking for someone to pass on my knowledge to. I've tried to look everywhere, and just was about to give up when Maki came falling into my lap."

Sarutobi felt his breath catch, and asked, "What about Naruto?" he tried to keep the anticipation out of his voice, but failed.

Smiling, Kenshi replied, "Naruto has proven to be everything that I could ever want in an apprentice. He's hardworking, sincere, driven, honorable, and pure. He's lived through things that would make grown men give up, but he just gets back up and endures. He will make an excellent apprentice." Kenshi brought them through the meditation garden and commented about the flowers that grew along the giant boulders, "The flowers were an invention of mine called lunar lilies. The sunlight that they absorb through photosynthesis is transferred to special glands in the flower's petals. This allows them to glow in the dark. The white light that they give off makes for a pretty impressive garden at night."

Sarutobi was interested, the lilies could probably sold for a fortune if they were sold tot he right buyer. The Hokage knew quite a few clans that would pay out of their own ass to have something so rare in their own meditation gardens. He decided to put that aside for the moment and focused on the reason he was there in the first place, Naruto. He didn't want to waste any time in seeing the boy he had thought of as an honorary grandson.

"Not to be rude, but when can I meet Naruto?" Sarutobi asked trying to hide his anxiety.

"Very soon."Kenshi said as they stopped in front of the main house, "This is the main house, and Maki is no doubt inside looking after his friend. She has been through a terrible ordeal, and he has been keeping vigil over her bed. She is lucky to have such a great friend. It's because of him that she is alive in the first place."

Sarutobi gave Kenshi a serious look and asked, "Really! What happened?"

Turning his head in the Hokage's direction, Kenshi said, "She was kidnapped by a band of thugs . Naruto killed several of them, and their leader, but Misumi was blinded. You should be proud of him. It was because of his quick action that Misumi's life was spared. And now his self sacrifice will allow her to become something more."

The old Hokage was confused, "Self sacrifice? What do you mean?" Kenshi let loose a boisterous laugh at Sarutobi's question. Seeing the Hokage's confused look, Kenshi enlightened the old man.

"For the past two months straight, Maki has been pleading with me constantly to train him in the art of the sword. I've turned him down until he could pass a littler test to prove if he was worthy of my mentoring. He passed, and then gave up his one chance to learn from the greatest swordsman in all of Japan. All that promise thrown away, just so his friend could have a chance at a normal life." Kenshi could see the Hokage's next question and decided to answer it first, "You see, several decades ago I found some scrolls in my families archives. They told the story of a blind swordsman that was without peer. It took me several decades, but I formulated a training regime that will allow a blind person to 'see without sight'. I found out that in some instances, their sense of sight is even better than a healthy person's eyes. Maki asked me to teach Misumi in his place."

Sarutobi couldn't stop his shock from showing, and Kenshi graced him with a pleasant smile. The old man was probably surprised that Naruto would even choose to give up being able to learn from such a master. Kenshi knew the feeling because he felt the same way about the young boy also, "By doing something so selfless for someone else, I have decided to take them both on as apprentices." Kenshi finished as he opened the door to his home. Both of the two took off their foot-ware at the Genkan.

Leading the way into a nice Japanese sitting room, Kenshi had the Hokage sit at another chabudai. The small table, while not as ornate as the one he had tea on in the temple, still was of good quality and showed signs of constant use. When Sarutobi was fully sat at the table, Kenshi left the room to retrieve Naruto. While Sarutobi was waiting for Naruto to come he was starting to fidget. What if Naruto didn't want to return. The Hokage knew that with the villagers hatred of the boy, any years he would spend in Konoha would be beyond harsh. But Sarutobi knew that whatever Naruto wanted, he would support the decision one hundred percent.

Sarutobi's attention was broken from his train of though by a youthful voice shouting, "Jiji!" Turning to the door, the old Hokage was greeted by an orange blur rushing him. Eventually the two collided and they fell to the floor in a pile. Laughing at the child's exuberance, he leaned back and took in Naruto's image.

The boy had undergone a dramatic transformation in the four months that he had been away from the elderly Hokage. Gone was the starved boy that looked like a beggar from the streets. He had filled out nicely after several months of good wholesome meals. An the ragged clothes had been replaced with a nice burnt orange kimono-top and black hakama. In fact, if it weren't for the blond hair and whisker marks on his cheeks, Sarutobi would be hard-pressed to recognize the boy.

Clearing his throat from the doorway, Kenshi spoke up, "Maki where are your manors. I know I taught you better."

Getting back to their feet, Naruto rubbed the back of his neck in embarrassment. Turning back to the old man he bowed and said in a tone of respect, "I'm sorry Hokage-sama. It is good to see you again after all this time."

Shooting the blond an amused look, Sarutobi said, "It's alright Naruto-kun. I missed you too. No need to be so formal. Take a seat and tell me all that you've been through, since you left the village."

Naruto and Kenshi took their places at the table and Naruto told the Hokage what he had been doing since he left. His story started somberly by telling him about how Kenshi saved his life from some ninjas that had captured him on his birthday. But he brightened up when he told of his time on the Tatsuki, and his pseudo training in Yaw-Yan. He even took time out of his story to show the Hokage some of the knots that Fukutaicho had him practice on his obi.

When Naruto recounted his first kill on board, Sarutobi took the kid by the had and gave him a comforting squeeze to show him everything was alright. Feeling a little better, Naruto continued on with how he had been spending his day's training his Yaw-Yan and learning from Kenshi how to read and write. From there, the story went on with his meeting of Misumi and her father while helping out at their shop. Sarutobi smiled at the excitement in the boy's voice when he was describing his very first friend.

The mood grew more somber as he spoke of the travesty that happened to Misumi after their first outing together. When he explained what he did to the thugs, the Hokage grew serious and a little sad. After Sarutobi was caught up on Naruto's life, he looked to Kenshi and was given a penetrating stare. Knowing what he had to do, Sarutobi took the boy by his shoulder and spoke in a very remorseful tone.

"Naruto, what you did to them wasn't your fault. Although it saddens me to think that you've already had to kill several people already when you are just barely five, each situation was forced onto you and I am proud of how you handled each." Sarutobi tried to give the boy an encouraging smile, but Naruto wouldn't accept it.

"But I was a monster. I killed those thugs without remorse, and when I had the leader at my mercy I delighted in his terror. How could you say that that is normal?" Naruto shivered as he replayed the scene in his mind. The look on the leaders face as he was trying to crawl away made Naruto's stomach turn.

Sarutobi moved Naruto's eyes to meet his, "It is not a crime to take pleasure in the pain of those who deserve it. From what I've gathered, he had just caused your best friend to lose her sight. And if I understand correctly, these thugs were kidnapping, raping, and killing children. So you can rest assured that they would have done the same to this Misumi girl if you hadn't stopped them permanently. Don't be so fast to confuse the delight of vindication with becoming a monster. It's natural to feel pleasure when you kill someone truly evil."

The Hokage's words seemed to make Naruto feel a little better, and Naruto brightened up a little bit. However something was bugging him, "Jiji, what was that red stuff that came out of my hand?"

Sarutobi caught his breath. He knew that Kenshi was eventually going to let Naruto know about his burden, but maybe it would be better if he revealed it to him first, "Naruto, do you remember when I caught you listening in on one of the Academy's classes and they were discussing the Kyuubi?"

Naruto was curious and replied, "Yes. They were discussing how the Yondaime killed the Kyuubi no Kitsune by sacrificing his own life. Why?"

The Hokage sighed and and took a calming breath before revealing the truth, "That story was told to protect the truth. The Yondaime couldn't kill the Kyuubi, in fact none of the nine Bijus can be killed. They are creatures made of pure chakra bound to the earth. It is impossible to kill them."

Naruto was a little bit on edge as he remembered his dreams of late, "Then what did he do to the demon?"

Sarutobi went on, "He sealed the demon away in the body of a child. So long as the child lived, the demon would be kept imprisoned."

Naruto was feeling a little shocked, but replied, "The baby was blond and had a swirl like tattoo on his stomach didn't he?"

Sarutobi remembered that Kenshi had said that Naruto was dreaming about the Kyuubi's sealing for the past month, and answered, "Yes. He chose his own son to become the prison for the Kyuubi. In other words, he chose you."

Naruto was in a state of shock. He refused to believe that his dreams were real, "But I don't have the tattoo that the child did. I checked repeatedly, even after I brought Misumi here there was nothing."

Sarutobi explained, "I would suspect that the reason the seal hasn't shown up yet was that you don't have conscious control over your chakra. The seal was meant to slowly integrate the Kyuubi's chakra into yours. But since your chakra coils aren't formed yet, something that can only happen when you've unlocked access to your chakra, the seal had no reason to be active. However, I assume that for a brief instant you used the Kyuubi's chakra to kill those thugs. I guess that if you would have looked at your stomach then, you would have seen the seal."

"So I really am a mon-" Naruto was cut off rather abruptly by Kenshi, who had been silent until then.

"What did Sarutobi just tell you Naruto. You are nothing more or less that the prison of one of the strongest demons in existence. To claim that you are the monster you entomb is paramount to calling the monks who guard the ancient scriptures of the past Emperors, Emperors themselves. There is no correlation between the two."

Naruto was shocked out of his depressed state by Kenshi using his real name. However, shock turned to confusion as Kenshi used some words that he didn't understand. Seeing the boy's confusion, Kenshi sighed frustrated and explained, "You are a mortal. PERIOD! The fact that you hold an immortal being in you does not make you any less or any more than what you truly are. It is idiotic think otherwise, and I don't believe you are an idiot are you?"

Naruto was affronted by Kenshi asking if he was an idiot, but had to agree that what he said made sense, so he let it go. Turning back to the Sandaime Hokage and said, "So If I was the Kyuubi's prison, how come the history texts say otherwise?"

Sarutobi continued where he left off, "I passed a law that prohibited anyone from speaking about it under penalty of death. Only you and I am allowed to explain your unique situation. I had hoped that this would allow you to have some semblance of a normal life, but sadly that didn't happen. I'm sorry Naruto, I hope you could forgive me."

Naruto felt his heart constrict, he could feel The Hokage's sincerity. Here was the strong leader that Naruto had been worshiping since he could talk, and he was bowing and asking forgiveness from him. It brought a tear to his eye, but he wiped it away quickly and said, "Jiji, I'll always forgive you. Your one of the things that made Konoha happy for me. But why wasn't I allowed to at least live in my parent's house instead of an orphanage?"

Sarutobi smiled sadly, "I'm afraid that that was impossible. One of the houses that was destroyed by the Kyuubi's rampage was your father's house. Everything was incinerated by the Kyuubi. Minato wasn't a rich person, he was an orphan just like you. He spent his lifetime pushing the boundaries of Fuuinjutsu further than anyone in the Elemental Nations. That's where most of his valuables lied, his extensive library of Fuuinjutsu scrolls. However The Kyuubi's attacked destroyed his vast library of sealing knowledge, even the knowledge of how to make his special kunai were lost in the attack."

Naruto was downtrodden with the realization that he wouldn't be able to learn his father's signature jutsu, and because of the fire he was certain that his mother's things went the same way. But he resolved to ask anyway, "What about my mother? Did she have anything?"

Seeing the look on the old man's face, Naruto's assumptions were right, "They were destroyed as well. The only thing that was saved was her some clothes that she were wearing in the hospital the day you were born." Seeing the down look on Naruto's face, Sarutobi rushed on, "But I was able to save her Hitai-ate and one of her weapons that she kept on her. It was a battle fan that she took with her everywhere. It is locked away in a vault at the Hokage Tower."

Perking up Naruto wanted to know more, so Sarutobi continued, "Your mother was named Uzumaki Kushina from Whirlpool. When the village was destroyed during a war with Kirigakure, we took her in as a refugee. She moved toward up in our ranks until she achieved the rank of Jonin. She would take her fan with her where ever she went. She was unstoppable with her fan and water jutsu. If you want, I could give it to you when you return, or I could send it to you here when I get back."

Kenshi decided to jump in, "Naruto!" When he got the youth's attention he continued, "I asked you to think about whether you want to return to Konoha, and last night you passed my test and became my apprentice. I ask you now, What do you want to do?"

Naruto took a sew seconds to think about it and replied, "Really want to learn under you Kenshi, but I want to prove to them that I am not the monster they think I am. Becoming Hokage used to be my dream, but I might need to put that aside for the moment to prove to them who I am first. So even though I want dearly to be your apprentice, I would like to return to Konoha."

Sighing, Kenshi gave Naruto a little smile and said, "Naruto, you are truly self-sacrificing. You are the perfect apprentice. I think now is a perfect time to go over my plans for you Naruto. I am still going to train you, you are the only one to have surpassed my expectations for an apprentice. So I will not give that away." Naruto gave Kenshi a curious glance, and the samurai continued, "But I will allow you to finish your training in the later years at Konoha. I now realize how much it was wrong to assume you would want to stay here away from the people who hurt you. But you are not the kind of person to run away from your problems."

Kenshi gave the Hokage a questioning glance and asked, "When do the Academy start to receive students, Hokage-sama?"

Sarutobi fixed the samurai with an intense look, "The entry age is nine and ten years old. From there they are allowed to train until the age of thirteen before they MUST take the exit exam. The exam consists of a written test on the Shinobi Code, and the three basic jutsu. Students are allowed to take the exam whenever during those three or four years, but if they fail three times they are dropped from the program."

Kenshi thought for a moment out loud to himself, "So about four years... I could have Naruto learn the beginner's stances and basics of swordsmanship by the end of the year... Then have him focus on a separate style each year... Special moves...Academy...Yes that could work."

Naruto made himself heard, "But Kenshi, I though that the treaty didn't allow that kind of thing to happen."

Kenshi focused on the blond and informed him, "The Emperor determined that the treaty is null and void. We will be making a new treaty after the Hokage had paid the reparations for their Anbu's actions." Kenshi flashed the Hokage a smile and said, "I'm planning on adding a provision that will allow Naruto to act as Japan's emissary to the Elemental Nations. When he is strong enough, he will be responsible for opening up new avenues for trade in other countries. I will also have three people appointed to Konoha to serve on your council. This is to insure the best interest of Japan is served. They will not vote on anything that doesn't influence Japan, but they will be there to monitor any possible aggressive actions against Naruto or Japan's interests."

Seeing another confused look in Naruto's face, this time Sarutobi explained, "That means you will be responsible for helping Japan grow stronger. And they will also have people to watch out for you, so the council can't do anything stupid. Like, forcing you to go on a suicide mission."

Naruto finally understood, and showed gratitude by hugging the middle aged man. Kenshi patted the youth on his back before saying, "It's going to be a lot of hard work Maki. The next four years is going to be hell on earth. The next four years will be hell, Then it will be four years of hell AND the Academy. There will be no going back, but the rewards for sticking through will be priceless."

Naruto was so excited he could hardly contain himself. The rest of the day was spent showing the Hokage around the city. He had wanted to show the old man his friend, but had been told by Koga that she had gone back to sleep. So he showed the Hokage around instead, he even got to show the old man some of his Yaw-Yan moves. Sarutobi was very proud of the boy, and after dinner was led off by Kenshi to his room at the local inn. After seeing a full day of Naruto walking around happily and being greeted by other people, Sarutobi resolved to find those stones that Kenshi wanted for restitution as soon as he got back. After all, it was a small price to pay for the happiness that Kenshi brought back into the young boy's life.

Yes. A small price indeed.

* * *

**Japanese Words/Phrases:**

_Chabudai-_ A small Japanese table.

_Konohagakure-_Village hidden in the leaves.

_ZatoIchi-_ A series of Japanese television shows.

_Anma-_ A Japanese Masseur (Considered the only job for a blind person).

_Todoza-_ A guild of blind people in Japan.

_Shikomi-zue-_ A cane-sword.

_Tsurugi no Tenrai Hogosho-_ 'Sword of the Divine Guardian' Kenshi's sword style.

_Genkan-_ Japanese walkway where you keep your shoes.

_Obi-_ Traditional belt that ties together a kimono.

_Hitai-ate- _Ninja Headband.

_Kirigakure-_ Village hidden in the Mist.


	9. Chapter 9

**A/N:**

This Chapter makes me happy. Because now I can update my Fuuinjutsu Naruto story with it's next chapter. Oh JOYGASM! This story will begin with a time skip of one year. So for people keeping count, Naruto=6 yrs old Misumi=8 yrs old. I've decided for the sake of my sanity, I will be ending Naruto's Pre-Academy years by the next chapter, so here is a heads up. Then after that, we can finally get to his academy years. I'm going to only focus on the important years, and skip around on the unimportant ones. So we might finally get into Cannon before the next five chapters. Now, for reviewer questions: RICK wonders, "Will Naruto change his name back? What are the pairings?" Answer: Naruto will not be changing his name. The Sandaime will let Naruto know why it isn't a good idea right before the Academy. And as I stated a few chapters back; The pairings was originally Tenten/Naruto. Misumi was only going to be a childhood friend, but since I had a lot of reviews asking for Misumi to be put in the pairing. I decided the pairing to be Naruto/Misumi/Tenten. LADY LAREN wanted to know about the CD player in feudal Japan. Answer: The universe MY Naruto lives in is so far in the future that Countries have regressed in time. Elemental countries have electronics, while Japan doesn't. Misumi had her electronics smuggled into the country. I feel it necessary to state that if anyone has any questions about my stories, you can feel free to IM me and I'll email you the answers right away. I even IM reviewers their questions directly to them. Enjoy!

* * *

**DISCLAIMER: **

I don't own, refer to chapter one.

* * *

"Blah" - Talking

"_Blah"_ - Thinking

"**Blah" **- Demon/Summon talking

"_**Blah" **_- Demon/Summon Thinking

"_Blah_" - Jutsu

_Inside the Hokage Monument_

Drip!

Drip!

Drip!

It was a very exhausted Hokage who fell to his knees on the cold hard ground of the darkest cavern underneath the Hokage's Monument. He had been coming to this cavern every off chance he had. Days seemed to turn to weeks, weeks became months, and before he knew it almost an entire year had passed since he had excepted the impossible task of retrieving a Void Stone from the secret spring. And still he didn't have the stones that Kenshi requested as payment for Konoha's past discretions.

Taking a look around at the cavernous chamber, Sarutobi took in the sight of the rocky walls and stalactite filled roof of the Chakra Spring. The only light in the room seemed to emanate from the spring itself, bathing the room in a soft green glow. This task had taken up every spare time he had, even to the extent that he had neglected some of his other duties. The council and his former teammates had been very interested in where he went. Even so far as to hire his own subordinates to tail him. But Sarutobi was not called Hokage for no reason. He easily eluded his followers every time, while remembering the names of the ninja who took orders from the council. At least he knew who was disloyal to him now.

Natural Chakra Springs are very rare. They are formed when Nature Chakra, which is energy the planet naturally gives off, is constantly released into a body of water over several years. The amount of time necessary to form a spring depends on the volume of water the chakra is released into. While many people might think that it's easy to make their own. Natural Chakra Geysers which supply the energy needed are unpredictable at best. Even the small pond, which would only reach to Sarutobi's knees if he were idiotic enough to enter, had to have take quite a few centuries of constant chakra to charge it enough to make a Chakra Spring.

These were the most sought after commodities in the shinobi world. Entire villages have gone to war over just the mention of another village possessing a Chakra Spring. That's why when the Shodaime and Niidaime Hokages discovered the spring, they kept it a secret that only the Hokage's knew and built the village around the spring. The Shodaime even utilized the Nature Chakra of the spring to grow the entire forests that surrounded Konoha. This fact prevented the Hyuuga Clan, who had been a rival at the time, from discovering the Spring with their Kekkei Genkai.

The true treasure of the Chakra Springs lay no in its chakra enriched water, which for some reason would turn anyone drenched in it to a frog. The most sought after item was the Chakra Stones. Which, contrarily to popular opinion, wasn't a stone at all. It was a form of algae that collected at the bottom of the pond, and when enough of it came together it solidified before braking away from the bottom and absorbing the ambient chakra of the pool.

It was two of these stones that Sarutobi needed to retrieve from the pool for Kenshi. And not just any two of these stones, Void Stones at that. Void Chakra Stones were exactly what they sounded like. They were the solidified algae that was produced just before it started to gather the ambient chakra in the water. This meant that The Hokage had to retrieve the black stone as it broke from the bottom of the pool, but before the stone took the energy from the water into itself. The task was even more complicated because when the stone was formed, it was virtually indestructible. And Sarutobi needed TWO in the shape of an eyeball.

Sarutobi sighed at the impossible situation that he was in. He couldn't enter the pool, otherwise he would be turned into a frog. He couldn't use chakra to cut a piece of the algae off because it needed the water to solidify, and the rock wouldn't be in an eyeball shape. He couldn't use chakra to blast the newly formed stone from the pool because the rock would absorb the chakra from the technique, thus rendering it into its gray charging form. And finally, he couldn't use a tool to pull the newly released void toned from the pool because the stone would have turned to a gray one by the time he pulled it clear of the water.

Sighing heavily, Sarutobi Got up from the ground and dusted the knees of his ninja suit. He had put his Kage's robes off to the side so that they wouldn't get dirty. He decided to return to his home and think about possibly using another method to get the stone. As he proceeded to put his robes back on, a croaking noise drew his attention to the amphibian crawling out of the pond and he had an idea. It would take some planning, but he was pretty sure that it might work.

Humming along to himself, Sarutobi left the monument and changed his course to the Hokage's Tower. After all, he had a wayward pupil to get in touch with. Smiling Sarutobi walked down the moonlight street and cackled, turning more than a few Anbu heads at the sound.

_Kenshi's Complex, Kyoto Japan_

Naruto was calmly doing his exercises in the early hours of the morning while he listened to his friend playing the Koto. Ever since she had been accepted as an informal apprentice to Kenshi, Misumi had been staying at Kenshi's. It wasn't long after her first few days of living at the complex that she asked Naruto what he was doing in the morning. When Naruto explained about his Yaw-Yan practices, Misumi asked if he would awaken her and allow her to sit in. Even though she couldn't see, she wanted to support him any way she could.

After a few sessions of just listening to Naruto exert himself, Misumi got bored and asked Kenshi for something to do in the morning sessions also. Kenshi had suggested she learn a musical instrument, and bought her a Koto. It wasn't fancy, but it was made of sturdy wood and did its job fine. The next morning Misumi found out that she had a real talent in playing the Koto. Even without practice, she could make the Koto sound like she wanted. It was then, for the first time, that she no longer felt handicapped by her blindness.

Eventually through the months she would find out that her musical talents was not limited to the Koto. She found that the Shamisen came to her just as easy as the Koto. She could even play non-stringed instruments like the Tsuchibue to such a degree that it even brought a tear to Kenshi's eye. From then on sunrises with Misumi was Naruto's most cherished time. Misumi would play heartfelt melodies for Naruto as he watched the sunrise. It was breathtaking. As Naruto finished his warm ups Misumi finished the song she was strumming. And using a towel to wipe away the sweat from his upper body, he made his way over to his best friend.

"You know your getting pretty good at playing that Koto, Misumi. Maybe we should ask Kenshi about getting an actual instructor for it. Then you would have something to actually do while he is teaching me the basic sword stances. I know you've been becoming bored with your lessons lately." Naruto suggested as he scrutinized the stringed instrument.

Shaking her head, Misumi replied, "No that's alright. I'm fine with learning the Koto my own way. And besides, Kenshi said that he thinks I've come far along enough that I might be ready to learn some of the basic techniques for utilizing the ZatoKiri soon." Misumi thought that it was just about time too. She had almost just had enough of Kenshi's demonic training regimes.

For about a year Kenshi had her training her regular senses to their best. She had to learn to use her other senses to make up for her loss of sight. Kenshi called it training her Exteroceptive Senses. He had rearranged the house every day while having her constantly roaming it, more often than not in search for some of her items that he had hidden from her. When she complained about it to Kenshi, all he replied with was that the lesson was to teach her to get used to navigating around without the use of her eyes. Recently, he had taken to leaving little marbles and balls out on the floor, and even greasing random spots on the floor to improve her balance sense of balance. Misumi wasn't too happy the first few times she got out of bed, just to slid and hit the floor hard. She was even less ecstatic when Kenshi started lobbing pebbles at her randomly throughout the day to "Hone her senses." But she persevered, clinging tightly to the hope that it would all be worth it.

Misumi wasn't the only one suffering though. Kenshi wasn't kidding when he said that Naruto's training would be hell. Now that Naruto had formally been accepted as Kenshi's apprentice, he was put through the ringer more times than he cared to admit. That first week, Kenshi had modified the seals on Naruto's waraji to weigh a good twenty pounds. Naruto thought that fifteen extra pounds would have been nothing. He realized his mistake later in the day when his feet seemed to weigh three times as much as they did previously. Naruto had also been given a boken and a scroll with instructions to practice the sword kata in it after his Yaw-Yan training in the afternoon. And if that wasn't enough to do; Naruto had to help out Misumi's father at his shop, where the blacksmith seemed determined to teach him the finer arts of forging weapons. So, all in all, It was a very exhausted six year old that went to bed each night.

"Well Misumi, I'm going to go wash off. It's about time for breakfast, and Kenshi will be up soon. Want to come with? Or are you going to wait at the table for me." Naruto asked as he gathered up his kimono top and obi where he left them folded by the wall.

Misumi blushed at Naruto's question. Sometimes the blond didn't think before he spoke, but Misumi she didn't hold it against him. Quickly clearing her throat she replied hastily, "I'll go wait by the table. You can go wash off at the well, and I'll meet you inside." Gathering up her zither, she pulled out a stick that she used to guide her around, and followed the path back to the main house.

Shrugging his shoulders at his friends retreating back, Naruto went around the house and washed up at the old well in the back of the complex. When he was finished with his morning cleansing, he put his kimono top back on and secured it in place into his hakama with his obi brand new obi. Looking at his new orange obi, Naruto couldn't help but think of what happened to the old one.

After Kenshi had healed Misumi, he had wanted to throw away the black and orange obi, but Misumi wanted to keep it. In fact she had one of Kenshi's maids clean it as thoroughly as possible, and constantly wore it over her eyes like a blindfold. It would look like an innocent black blindfold with orange swirls, but they could still see a few splashes of crimson on some of the orange swirls. He couldn't understand why she wanted to wear it all the time, but Naruto guess that just made Misumi weird like that. Shrugging to himself, Naruto finished making himself presentable and headed inside to eat breakfast.

_Kenshi's Dinning Room_

As it turned out, Misumi's father Koga joined them for breakfast. It wasn't often that Koga had time to spare, but when he did you could be pretty sure he was at Kenshi's place reminiscing about old times with the Samurai. He was even willing to help Naruto with a few of his stances when he could. Being a retired Samurai himself, he was a veritable fountain of knowledge about different things. He explained everything; from the samurai's philosophy of Bushido to the war tactics of Nobunaga, he knew it all.

Breakfast was a subdued affair. Misumi learned fast that Kenshi wasn't a morning person, although not in the same way Naruto did, and he valued quiet mornings so that he could conserve his energy for the day ahead. However, Koga had no reservations about interrupting his long time friend's peace. He would constantly ask about his daughter's training. The children were surprised that other than giving his buddy a glare, Kenshi didn't DO anything to Koga. He even answered some of his questions. But after the shock wore off, they returned to their own plates of food and left the adults to their talking. It wasn't until Kenshi mentioned what he had in store for them in the coming weeks for his apprentices, that their attentions were brought back into the fold.

"...Maki has progressed very far in the ways of the sword, considering he's only been practicing his kata two hours a day for an entire year. His use of the basic style is flawless, all he needs is practical experience. I think in a few weeks he might be ready for the next step in his training. And Misumi had developed her Exteroceptive Senses to he point where she can navigate the entire house almost perfectly. Her balance still needs some improvement, but I suspect that a few more weeks of training will fix that as well."

The two eavesdroppers brightened up at this. Finally, they could progress to better things that their monotonous routine. Naruto hid his smile behind his tea, while Misumi covered her smile behind her sleeve. What they heard next made them extra excited.

"What are you planning on teaching them, old friend?" Koga questioned the samurai timidly. Aware that their conversation drew the attention of the two young ones.

"Their next lesson will most likely be...A SURPRISE!" Kenshi finished with a conspiratory smirk as he saw his two apprentices fall off their place mats. As his students got back up and shot him an irritated look, he replied, "Serves you right for listening in on others conversation."

"But Kenshi-sensei!" They both exclaimed in sync.

"No buts. If you have time to listen in on old men conversing, then you have time to practice your skills. Finish up your meals and continue on your daily practices. You'll both find out the next step of your training when you've completed the first. No go on." The now sullen children finished breakfast and went about their morning routines while the adults finished talking.

_Hokage's Office, Konoha_

The Sandaime Hokage was sitting behind his desk smiling. The cause of his joy wasn't that he had finished his daily load of paperwork early. Nor was it the fact that he had a relatively trouble free day. And it certainly wasn't because he put his "special" tobacco in his currently lit pipe. No, he was smiling because sitting on his desk in a new ornate box was the necessary stones that Kenshi had requested.

Sarutobi smiled as he caressed the deep red lid of the box, and smiled at the thought of the treasure within. It had taken two weeks for his Anbu to track down his student Jiraiya and replay his message. His wayward pupil spent no time in returning to Konoha after that complaining all the while about "spoiled research". But Sarutobi desperately needed to use one of his summons. It had taken some time to convince his student to part with one of his toads without any reason for why, But eventually he consented when his teacher explained that he needed it to restore the treaty with Japan.

Lifting the lid, Sarutobi took in the splendor of the two orbs. The rocks themselves were only the size of two big marbles, and laying on the plain white silk lining of the box they looked a little plain. The box itself looked more valuable with seals carved into the very wood of the box that insured it was unbreakable and unable to be opened without the necessary key. But looks could be deceiving, and Sarutobi's senses were screaming at him. The orbs seemed to emit an aura that you just wanted to touch. That's why the box was reinforced with seals to counteract the orbs effect, and the old man had to wear chakra restricting gloves before handling them himself.

He kept the orbs locked up in his secret vault along with Naruto's mother's battle-fans for over a week, but it was almost time to leave to renegotiate the treaty. The two items were going to be moved to his clan house in preparation of his journey in the morning. Word was just received from Japan that he could enter the boarder, with clear orders that his teammates were to stay behind. Sarutobi couldn't contain his chuckle at the thought of his teammates.

Homura and Koharu didn't take the warning the Emperor and Kenshi gave them before they left, and before the council could receive their reports the two succumbed to a coma. Upon awakening, they found themselves with an entire two week memory gap which spanned their entire trip to and from Japan. Needless to say, Danzou and the council was not pleased. Sarutobi just laughed.

Closing the box and locking it with the key that he kept around his neck, Sarutobi swept his gaze along the other object on his desk. Uzumaki Kushina's battle fans was very unique. They weren't fashioned like the over sized steel fans of Suna, which was almost as tall as most kunoichi. They were whirlpool fans from the long destroyed village of Uzumaki-gakure. These two were very well kept, never gaining dust from their almost ten years of disuse. She hadn't used them much in her last years of life, preferring to save them for the hardest opponents she came across. But that didn't stop her from carrying for them like they were her babies, as Sarutobi could attest to when he cut his finger on one of the still sharp blades.

Uzumaki-gakure was a small ninja village lived on one of the many islands that now made up the Kirigakure's boarder. Before it's destruction it was famous for it's development of battle fans, which were surprisingly the precursor to Suna's battle fans. But whereas Sunagakure went into the long and more powerful style, Uzumaki-gakure developed more graceful and versatile versions. Indeed, Kushina Uzumaki's fans made this apparent.

Kushina's Fans were both a foot and a half in length, just big enough to stuff down her boots and almost be unnoticeable. The fan itself was made of iron, which gave it a dark sheen and weighted it down just a little. The ten ribs of the fan went all the way through the black cloth slips and exited to make ten bladed spikes at the very tip of the fan. But if the bladed ribs of the fan weren't enough of a weapon for Kushina, then she had nine senbon shaped throwing spikes hidden within the folds of the cloth slips. It required just the right slack in the folds to allow the spikes to release, but they were the bane of many shinobi's in Kushina's day. (Think Kitana's Fans from MK, except with throwing spikes inside the cloth part.)

They were a piece of art, deadly art at that, but what made them the unstoppable was that Kushina got her husband Namikaze Minato to inscribe seals on the cloth of the fans. How he was able to draw the seals on that black cloth was a secret only known to him, but do it he did. From what Sarutobi knew of the fans, the seals did only two things: One, It converted chakra channeled through the spines fan into Fuuton Chakra, thereby increasing the strength of the wind by ten. Two, channeling chakra through the cloth of the fan activates the return-to-sender seals that were inscribed on the base of the spikes, thereby retuning them to their folds in the fan.

Gathering the three items up into his arms, Sarutobi left his office and headed to his family complex. In just another week, he would meet Naruto and present him with his mother's effects. He would also square away Konoha's debt to Kenshi. Then it was going to be a very trying few weeks until the new treaty was in place. But it needed to be done, and Sarutobi Hiruzen was the one to do it.

* * *

**Japanese Words/Phrases:**

_Koto-_ Japanese Strumming instrument: looks like a wooden board/stand with 13 strings. Looks like a Zither.

_Shamisen-_ A three stringed Guitar. Used by courtesans.

_Tsuchibue-_ Earthen flute. AKA an ocarina.

_Waraji-_ Japanese sandal.

_Boken-_ A wooden sword.

_Bushido-_ the samurai code of conduct.

_Suna-_ Sand

_Uzumaki-gakure-_ Village hidden in the Whirlpool aka Whirlpool village.

_Kirigakure-_ Village hidden in the Mist.

_Sunagakure-_ Village hidden in the Sand.

_Fuuton Chakra-_ Wind-natured chakra.

* * *

R&R SRY for the long wait, but I was caught up with my job.


	10. Chapter 10

**A/N:**

I know that I said that I would update the next chapter of Fuuinjutsu Naruto, but I hate to tell you that Tsurugi no Tenrai Hogosho is lacking the 3,000 word necessary to fulfill my self imposed 50,000 words. So Sorry, but this chapter will hopefully demonstrate a day to day schedule for Naruto and Misumi. And it just occurred to me that I have never given Misumi and Koga a last name, so I ask anyone out there to supply me with one please. There were no reviewer questions, so on with the show.

* * *

**DISCLAIMER: **

I don't own, refer to chapter one.

* * *

"Blah" - Talking

"_Blah"_ - Thinking

"**Blah" **- Demon/Summon talking

"_**Blah" **_- Demon/Summon Thinking

"_Blah_" - Jutsu

_Kenshi's Complex_

Naruto felt himself becoming drenched with sweat as he exerted himself. The droplets of moisture seemed to run down his bare chest as he felt his muscles clench and unclench themselves. His back was straining from the constant up and down motions he was doing. He paused in the middle of his extensions when he heard his friend moan out laud...

"Maki! When are you going to put that ball away. You've been finished for over twenty minutes already. Kenshi probably has breakfast ready." Misumi said, her voice laced with irritation.

Naruto got off his exercise ball happy. Today was the first time he was able to do the maximum reps of each exercise that his Yaw-Yan instructor Ziggy had assigned him on his exercise scroll. Finally after a year of exercising, Naruto was able to fit in 250 reps of all six exercises in the two hours he had alloted for exercises. Bringing the grand total of repetitions he did to 1300 reps in two hours. Sure he had to cheat and skip the breaks between reps, but that wasn't a hassle after he found out something very useful.

Apparently having the Kyuubi sealed within him gave Naruto excellent stamina and an phenomenal recovery rate. That mean he could exercise all he wanted and still be fit as a fiddle a few moments later. Taking up a towel he wiped the sweat from his torso, and turned to Misumi who had been sitting against the wall. She had long sense put aside her tsuchibue down beside her, having finished her song.

"Alright. I'm done exercising. That was a beautiful song you played, what was it called again Misu-chan?"

Misumi gathered her tsuchibue and got to her feet before responding, "I call it 'Morning in Paradise'. It's not really finished yet..."

"I think it's great anyways." Naruto complemented as he finished wiping off his body, "You should play some for Kenshi or your dad. I'm sure they'll like it too." he supplied helpfully.

Misumi was blushing, but didn't comment otherwise to Naruto's complement. Since she started playing music, the only person to ever really hear her play her songs was Naruto. She refused to play in front of anyone else because she was afraid no one else would appreciate it. Koga and Kenshi had first sneaked into several of her morning shows, and were amazed at what they heard. But as her senses got honed better through Kenshi's training, she could easily detect when they were trying to listen in and stopped performing immediately.

"Misumi? Are you OK?" Naruto asked when he saw hims friends red face, "Are you getting a fever? Your face is all red." Naruto asked as he leaned his forehead against Misumi's.

Flustered, she pulled away from Naruto and replied, "I'm f-fine, M-Maki. Let's go get ready for breakfast." Misumi didn't wait for a reply as she hurried down the path, her stick banging every few seconds as she went.

Naruto just shook his head,_ "Why did she run off like that? Bah! I'll never understand girls."_ Naruto though to himself as he followed along the path she traversed. Stopping briefly to wash outside the building by the well.

Meanwhile inside, Misumi was sitting in her place at the breakfast table listening in to her teacher and father talking about important matters of state.

"Really?" Koga asked Kenshi.

"Yes. I just got a message from the Sandaime of Konoha. He will be arriving in a few days to renegotiate the treaty and pay the restitutions to Japan."

"It's finally time. From what I've been hearing from the ship merchants, it's not a moment too soon. Several of the vessels that dealt with overseas was about to go rogue. This past year was rough on trade ships. Last I heard, the Tatsuki actually had to lay-off most of their sailors due to lack of profits. I'm pretty sure that they'll be happy for the return of business as usual."

"Yes it's a shame, but it had to happen. The treaty needed to be amended, and they had to repay us for almost two hundred years of seal knowledge somehow. But we can all rest easy soon. Things will be as they should have been, and not how they were."

"That's another thing, you keep talking about reparations. What do these reparations entail?" Koga asked his long time friend.

Kenshi smirked, "It's not so much reparations for Japan, as gifts for Misumi."

Koga was confused, and his face showed it, so Kenshi elaborated, "I had the Hokage attain two of the Elemental Countries most priceless artifacts. They are called Void-Chakra Stones."

Misumi couldn't help but interject, "Why am I getting anything? I'm not important enough, to receive anything. Least of all reparations for the entire country."

Kenshi smiled and answered her question, "You aren't important enough, YET. All this year I have been forcing you to hone your senses to their best, and you've rose up to the challenge remarkably. It takes a remarkable degree of dedication to achieve that."

Misumi was flustered but pressed onward, "But I'm still not-"

Misumi cut herself off as she was forced to move her head slightly to the side to avoid a knife that Kenshi had thrown at her. Hearing the tell-tale 'TWING' that meant the knife had embedded itself in the wall behind her, she shot where she knew Kenshi's was a frown. He just resumed speaking.

"No matter what you say, not just anyone could dodge a knife thrown by my hand. And the amount of people who can while unable to see are reduced even further. Let me tell you what I have planned for you Misumi. Maki has three more years before he must attend Konoha's Ninja Academy. I'm sorry to say that I must leave you and attend to his training there. But I can tell that unlike him, you will be finished with your training before that time comes."

Misumi wasn't deterred, "But how do you know?" she asked the samurai warily.

"Because it took you one year to do what most would take several. And that shows more than dedication, it shows genius. And also, the sheer number of stances Maki must go through is far more than you will learn." Kenshi continued while watching his friend nod in agreement.

"He's right honey." Koga agreed, "You are showing real talent, and Kenshi's training will just improve what your already talented in."

"Misumi!" Kenshi stated regaining her attention, "This next year will consist of two things for you. You will learn how to unlock your chakra, and you will learn how to manipulate it."

Misumi was interested and excited, "I'm gonna use chakra?"

Kenshi nodded, "That's right! The next step that you and Maki have been looking forward to for so long is activating and manipulating chakra. For you this step will be very important, because it is imperative that you build up ungodly reserves. Otherwise you'll fail at what I have to teach you."

"Why would I need big reserves?" Misumi questioned her sensei.

"Because the sensing techniques I will be teaching you require that you constantly and continuously layer a very fine, and untraceable layer of chakra into your surrounding area. I'm hoping that before the three years is up, that you would be able to maintain the techniques throughout the entire day, only needing to stop at night while you sleep." Kenshi said.

Misumi was shocked, "But would I be able to have that much chakra in three years? It doesn't seem possible."

Kenshi smirked, "That is where your wrong. What you will eventually learn is that using chakra isn't so much about storing chakra up and using it like a pump. When developed fully, your chakra coils will constantly emit a specific amount of chakra through them constantly. All you need to do is train your body to adjust to having more and more pump through them. Luckily, that's where the Void Chakra Stones come in handy. They will constantly draw the maximum amount of chakra through your coils when they are finally inserted into your eyes. After a while this will help your coils get used to producing ungodly amounts of chakra. When you have your production at the right level, then I'll have the priests make you a headband with seals inscribed to stop the stones effects. Then when you need to train yourself to have more chakra, just take off the headband for a few weeks."

Misumi was apprehensive, "What do you mean You'll be putting some stones in my eyes?"

Kenshi calmed her fears, "Their more marble like than anything. And I was planning to have some of the monks inscribe seals onto the surface to give you an edge in battle."

Misumi was intrigued once again, "What kind of seals?"

Kenshi new that he had her hooked, "In the shinobi world there is a jutsu called Kokuangyo no Jutsu(Bringer of Darkness) It makes whoever caught within the area of effect to see only pitch black. I thought you might like to even the playing field a little, and share your pain with the Yakuza."

"But why would I need to do that? Am I going to be fighting anyone?" Misumi asked, "I just thought you were going to teach me how to 'see'?"

Kenshi frowned sightly, "The reason you are being given Japan's reparation, is so that you can use it in the service of Japan. Do you remember the organization that the men who took your eyes from you served?"

Misumi was frowning also by this point, "I believe they were Yakuza." She replied seriously.

"That's right! Well, the Yakuza has been spreading it's influence all over Japan. After your training is done and Maki and I have left, you will do as the inspiration of your style did. You will become like ZatoIchi and put an end to the Yakuza menace. After a year of learning chakra building exercises and techniques, I will spend two years getting you familiar with the stances of the ZatoKiri. After that you will have four years to gain practical experience against the Yakuza. " Kenshi at this point turned and Apologized, "I'm sorry old friend, but I require you to dust off your swordsmanship to help. As confident as I am that your daughter will be ready, I know you will make sure she comes out all right. Can I ask this of you?"

Koga laughed, "Like you could stop me. And I will make sure that both Maki and my daughter are outfitted with the best weaponry I can supply."

Shaking his head negatively, Kenshi said, "For Misumi, that is OK. But you know that every generation of warriors who wield the Tsurugi no Tenrai Hogosho MUST create their own blades themselves. That's why I've had you crammed and quizzed him on the process all this year. He will make his first attempt soon..."

Waving his hand to stop his friend, Koga replied, "I know, but there is nothing that stated I can't do something in the way of defense is there?"

Thinking for a moment, "I don't suppose not, but you must take into account that Maki will eventually join ninja ranks, so he needs armor suitable for him. He will have to decide for himself." Kenshi commented.

Misumi got Kenshi's attention again and asked, "Will I ever see Maki again after he joins Konoha?" Misumi hoped that that wasn't the case. She couldn't imagine never 'seeing' Naruto again, and it would break her heart that the boy she had grown to like wouldn't be there. Her face must have been showing some of her emotion because Kenshi decided to ease the distraught girl's fear.

"If after four years you haven't dispatched the threat, then I will return with Maki to help quell them ourselves. But you never need to worry because I would never separate you two for very long. The four years apart will help you both to grow. But you don't need to worry about that anytime soon."

"Don't have to worry about what?" Naruto asked as he walked into the dinning room and took his place beside his friend.

"Nothing," Kenshi said as one of his servants brought their breakfast in, "Time for talking is over. Eat your food." After that everyone dug in and ate.

_Kenshi's Dojo_

Clang!

Clang!

"So that's what she was worried about!" Naruto said as he intercepted another slash from Koga's blade.

They had been going at this for an hour already. After breakfast, Naruto had practiced his morning Yaw-Yan kata while Kenshi took Misumi to a different side of the complex to continue her training. After his regular three hours of practice, Naruto had a nice break with Misumi as they had tea and onigiri together. After their break he went back to the dojo.

Normally this was the time Naruto practiced his forms, but Kenshi decided that Naruto needed practical experience against another swordsman. Koga, who had come to bring Kenshi something from his shop, volunteered claiming he needed to get back into fighting shape. They were using a pair of katana he had brought with him. They were nothing special, just regular swords with black cloth handles.

Koga dodged a swipe from Naruto as he continued, "Yes. You will be leaving for Konoha in another three years, and after that you wont see each other for another four at least. So make the most out of the time you have left. It will be a while until you see each other again. Both of you have grown some growing up to do, and though it pains me to say it. Neither of you can do it together" he lunged his blade at Naruto's lower leg while slicing up.

Naruto's katana flew in a graceful arc and impacted the rival blade. Pushing the blade backwards to give him some room to move, Naruto jumped back and got into position. Focusing on his opponent, Naruto pointed his blade forward with one hand on top of the other. Koga switched positions and held his left hand loosely in front of him with his sword pointing downward behind his back. As if a signal had been given, the two adversaries lunged at one another.

Clang!

"Omph!" Naruto fell to the ground on his butt, his sword strewn on the ground beside him. Koga had intercepted his straight slice with an upward one, before spinning in a 180 degree circle. With their swords were still locked above them, Koga had his back to Naruto and drove his left elbow into the young boy's solar plexus. The result was one knocked down kid trying to catch his breath.

"Maki, never let your guard down! That's when you are guaranteed a loss." Koga instructed while putting his katana back into it's sheath at his side before helping the boy sit up.

Naruto sent a glare at his opponent, "But you cheated!" he accused, "Ow!"

Koga had just slapped the kid upside his upside his head. Before handing Naruto his dropped sword. After the boy had also sheathed his katana, Koga said, "Maki, what you must remember is that while battling, there is no such thing as cheating. You merely thought that when battling me, I would stick with sword fighting. I think it is safe to say you thought wrong. Also, never forget to you have more than just your sword to fight with."

Naruto looked at the man curiously, "I do?" asked the retired samurai.

Smiling at the blond, Koga said, "Yes you do. And in your case it is a very dangerous weapon indeed."

"Like what?" Naruto asked Koga.

The retired Samurai groaned and rubbed his temple. "Your martial arts Maki. Think about it! You are practicing a form of fighting that mainly relies on kicks to deliver damage to your opponents. Sure there are punches, but there are three times as many kicks. Most martial arts require both to work efficiently. As a result, most swordsman need to put away their swords to be able to use it."

Naruto widened his eyes in dawning comprehension. Koga smiled and continued, "I see I struck a chord. This means you can transition between both your Yaw-Yan, and your sword style seamlessly. You never even have to sheath your sword. And if you do lose your sword, then your fighting wont be effected very much." Koga leaped back a few feet and put his left hand onto his sheath while his right was lightly gripping the handle, "So you ready for round two?"

Naruto smirked at the man and imitated his position, "Ready when you are old man. This time I'll get you!" the boy altered his stance just a little, he put his left foot just behind his right while moving his right just a bit farther in front. Too a samurai it would just look wrong, but a Yaw-Yan practitioner would know he was preparing to deliver a left kick.

Now that the boy was ready, Koga rushed the boy while drawing his sword for a sideways cut. Naruto drew his sword in a reverse grip and intercepted while launching his leg into Koga's right side. Feeling his foot meet resistance, Naruto was greeted with the sight of Koga siding back on the dojo floor still standing.

His katana still pointing at the boy in his right hand, Koga smiled and said, "Well done, Maki! Now I can start taking you a little bit more seriously." Reversing the grip of his own katana, Koga shrugged off the left side of his Kimono top and transferred the sword to his bare side and twirled the blade upright, "Now, that feels better. I hope your ready Maki, because the kid gloves come off!" cracking his neck to the side, he lunged at the blond again.

Clang!

Naruto blocked again, but didn't expect the strength of the strike to bring him down to one knee. Somehow Koga's strength had increased exponentially, and it took all of Naruto's might to not fall down. Batting the offending object away from him Naruto attempted to get some breathing room, but Koga was there to keep pressing him further. The exchanges lasted until it was about time for Lunch with Koga pressing Naruto hard not giving the boy time to rest.

"Pant...Pant... How are you... So strong?" Naruto got out while he was kneeling on the ground on all fours.

"Didn't Kenshi ever tell you? I was Captain of the Emperor's personal guard. Did you think I achieved that title by being unable to defeat the strongest of opponents?" Koga asked smirking at the fatigues boy.

Taking a breath, Naruto replied, "He told me, but I didn't expect you to be as strong in your other hand. I've only seen you fight with your right hand."

Koga raised his eyebrow, "Didn't I mention that I'm left-handed? I only battle with my right hand because my left is so strong, it would be entirely unfair to a trainee. Oh and Maki..." Koga said as he put left part of the kimono up and started to walk away.

"Yes?" Naruto asked the retreating figure.

Koga looked over his shoulder smiling, "I was only going at twenty percent of my total strength!" he revealed to the blond's horror, "And I limited myself to using ten percent of my maximum speed!" Naruto's eyes widened even further, but Koga added the icing on the cake, "AND I still haven't used chakra to enhance myself!" Koga theft the blond gaping at his back.

_Kenshi's Meditation Garden (While Naruto's Training)_

Poof!

Poof!

While Naruto was receiving his practical experience from Misumi's father, said young girl was being put through the ringer. All afternoon she had been forced to catch small smoke pellets that Kenshi would throw at her from odd angles at random intervals. That wasn't the hard part though, no, the hard part was having to do so while balancing on a wooden pole roughly the size of two feet in radius.

Catching another one, she asked, "Why are we doing this again?"

Kenshi lobbed one toward her ankle, which she caught but started to wobble a little bit, "Because we need to heighten your perceptions of the world around you better. It was hard to dodge things you can't see, but you require even more precision to CATCH things you can't see." After she straightened herself up, he threw two simultaneously at her left shoulder and right waist.

Poof!

Poof!

Misumi caught the left shoulder pellet with her right hand, and the right waist with her left. This left her looking like she was hugging herself, "I could understand that, but what is the purpose of having me balance on a pole while doing it?" the girl exclaimed.

Shooting four at her in quick succession, Kenshi lectured, "Simple, you need to improve your balance. This is the best way. I plan on eventually moving you down from a column circle four feet in diameter to a pole barely four INCHES in diameter."

Misumi Caught them by moving her hand in a 'Z' formation, "But why would you need to do that?"

Kenshi sighed, "Because if you can do that, then you are guaranteed to never be knocked off your feet. That is very useful in battle, and this helps you familiarize the position of your arms in relation to the rest of your body. Now I'm going to make it harder, I know that you can catch up to six pellets at a time. But now I will be switching to pebbles, but I will tell you the number you have to catch. These are the ones that will hit you if you don't, while the rest will pass you in relative safety. The distance the safe one are thrown from you will shrink until they are just barely passing your skin."

Misumi gulped nervously, but her torment didn't end there.

"Don't complain about the methods of training. Do you think I have nothing better to do than teach you anything?" At Misumi's negative response he continued, "Why do you want to do this? Is it really what you want? Because trust me if your doing this only because Maki made this happen, tell me now and I'll stop and have the Void Chakra Stones that should arrive soon modified and given to him."

Misumi bit her lip and shivered. She didn't want to make Naruto disappointed, but did she really want to go through the pain of Kenshi's training. Sure she would love to be able to see, but was that worth the risk she was going to take after she gained that ability. Did she really want to become a glorified weapon of Japan? Misumi had her doubts, but she just didn't know.

Rushing away from her spot on the column, Misumi ran not knowing where she was going. She stopped when she heard the sound of clanging coming from inside., _"This must be the dojo."_ Misumi thought as she listened to the two combatants. They began talking.

"...So make the most out of the time you have left. It will be a while until you see each other again. Both of you have grown some growing up to do, and though it pains me to say it. Neither of you can do it together..." Misumi's father was saying to Naruto.

Misumi thought about that for awhile. So was that what this was about, did she need to grow up away from Naruto. She thought about it some more, and realized that she had been depending on everyone else to help her when she never really wanted to help herself. Sure she excelled at what they wanted her to, but that didn't mean SHE wanted to excel at it herself.

Since she lost her eyes, every time she needed something she had relied on someone else for it. Her Dad, Naruto, even Kenshi. But never had she relied on herself. Maybe what she needed to do was what her dad said, and grow up a little bit. She wasn't going to be the scared girl waiting to be rescued by a knight in shining armor. Steeling herself, she backtracked her steps to the stone ring.

Kenshi's voice rang out from her side, "Have you made your decision?"

Misumi nodded with a serious look on her face, "I don't want to have to wait for anyone to save me again. I will turn this handicap into a strength, and my enemies will fear me for it. I wish to continue training, Shishou.

Kenshi Nodded and continued where he left off, " As I was saying, now I will be switching to pebbles, but I will tell you the number you have to catch. These are the ones that will hit you if you don't, while the rest will pass you in relative safety. The distance the safe one are thrown from you will shrink until they are just barely passing your skin. In time, when you find yourself adept at this exercise, we will progress to moving directions the stones come from."

Misumi Nodded grimly and they continued their training. I was a bruised and fatigued, but somewhat relieved Misumi that hobbled away from her sensei. But before she got too far, Kenshi said, "Oh and Misumi?"

The girl halted her walk and asked, "Yes Shishou?"

Kenshi continued, "I only threw the pebbled at twenty percent of my total strength!" Misumi's eyes (If they were unbound) would have been wide, but Kenshi didn't stop there, "And I have yet to enhance myself with chakra!" Seeing a messenger at the gate he left the girl gaping like a fish in the stone circle.

Across the complex, two individual people were having the same thought, _"He's a monster!"_

_Koga's Blacksmith's _

**(P.S. I know nothing about forging. I did some research, but it was so conflicting, I decided to stick with Youtube on this one. Sorry!)**

Later that day at Koga's furnace Naruto was casting a block of Tomahagane into a fire on the end of a long square rod that the . He was pretty excited because today because Misumi's father was letting Naruto make a sword while he oversaw the procedure and quizzed him on the various processes.

"What will you do once the iron is heated Maki?" Koga asked his Pseudo apprentice.

Naruto moved the sword in the fire before responding, "I'm going to use the hammer and flatten it out into a brick, where I'll reheat the two pieces and pound them together. That is called folding the steel, and to be a true Japanese sword the steel must be folded sixteen times. Then I get another bar of Tomahagane and repeat the process until the iron is the length I want it for the sword."

Nodding, Koga said, "Well done, and precisely how long does it take?"

Naruto thought for a moment, "If I worked on it all day, it should take roughly one to two days." he answered taking out the rod, with the cherry red iron on the end. Taking his hammer, he got to pounding away on it to start the folding process. "Luckily This one is almost done though because you started it yesterday."

"That's right Maki, but you will need to do your own one day. That's why I'm prepping you, because Kenshi said that all masters of his family sword style MUST make their own swords. He even gave me a recipe for the clay that has to be but onto the sword before quenching. He says that it will "bond" the sword to you, whatever that means. But since he is your sensei, and his family had been known to produce the best swords in the world. Even better than mine, though I'm hesitant to admit it."

It was several hours later that Naruto finished folding the steel. When it had cooled enough for Naruto to put Koga's standard mixed clay on the back of the sword, the blond took extra care to leave the edge uncovered. The old sword smith quizzed, "What ingredients are in the clay, and why are they important?"

Naruto answered without looking away from his task, "The special clay is usually made from clay ash and rust. I read in Kenshi's archives that his family believed that if the ashes of a loved one is freely given to help make a sword, their spirits could lend them strength in battle."

Koga rubbed his chin thoughtfully and said, "That's a nice theory, but we can't prove that. But I will tell you that something the Matsumuro do to the swords make them the greatest. So tell me about what the clay is used for?"

Naruto rubbed the back of his head and replied, "The clay mixture is put onto the back of the katana taking care to avoid the edge of the blade. This provides heat insulation, and makes sure that only the edge will harden during Quenching." Naruto said as he put the blade back into the fire.

Koga smiled at all his apprentice had learned from him. He asked Naruto one last question, "And Quenching?"

Naruto smiled, "It is when you reheat and submerge the blade into the water the several times until the sword is finished. Afterwards it takes about several weeks of sharpening and polishing, going from courser whetstone to finer ones during the day."

Koga patted his apprentice on the back and said, "Congratulations Maki! You are now know all you need to make your first sword. Kenshi will give you the go ahead when your need to make one, and this time I'll not be standing over your shoulder. But first, let's finish this one and get it onto polishing, eh?"

Naruto smiled and said, "Yes sir!"

_Emperor's Palace _

While Naruto was busy at Koga's Shop, Kenshi was sitting in a very important meeting. The Hokage had came with the necessary reparations to Japan, and had requested he bring Misumi along since she was to receive them. Kenshi was dressed in his finest kimono and hakama, while he had a maid pick out an equally impressive kimono.

They made quite an entrance into the meeting hall. Kenshi dressed in his black clothing, and Misumi in her white silk. She seemed to glow next to his contrasting color, not that she knew of course. So she was unexpected to hear several of the samurai's breath catch. To them she looked like an ethereal child. Kenshi saw local lords gathered around the table with the Hokage taking seat next to him, a high honor for someone not native to their country. He walked up to the Emperor and bowed, and had Misumi bow too.

"My Lord, I have come with Misumi to accept the reparations the Hokage agreed to in the name of Japan." Kenshi said in his humblest tone of voice.

"And why is it SHE is bestowed with the honor. Surely there is another more suited than a blind GIRL." One of the local lords complained. As Kenshi took in the man's features he recognized the lord of Yokohama. He had never liked Kenshi since he became the Emperor's advisor and head general. He believed he should have been chosen, and chose to take it out on Kenshi whenever he could.

Shooting the man a glare, Kenshi warned, "I would be careful of whom you speak to, Misumi is Koga's daughter and a noble by blood. If I recall correctly, you married into the nobility. So are you suggesting that this go to someone of LOWER birth? I'm pretty sure that Koga would challenge you for the right." That shut the lord up quickly.

It was common knowledge that even though Koga had retired ten years prior, he still could outlast any of the recruits the army had. He even still kept in contact with his replacement in the Emperor's guards, electing to supply them each personally with one of his swords. Koga's swords were so valuable, they were considered one of Japan's National Treasures. Only the Matsumuro family swords were held in higher esteem, and Kenshi had not shown them to anyone in over twenty-five years due to the rate thieves kept trying to steal them. No one wanted to go against Koga, and in the end they all agreed that Misumi was a decent candidate to receive the reparations.

After the matter was handled, The Hokage handed the redwood box to Misumi. After she had accepted it the Hokage gave the key to Kenshi. After a few words of exchange, the Emperor dismissed the group, Kenshi sent the Box along with the Key to the priests with a warning about the stones compelling properties. They promised to take special care with the seals, and left. Kenshi turned to the Hokage and invited him over for dinner and they left together.

_Kenshi's Compound_

Dinnertime was one joyous affair for one blond kid by the name of Uzumaki Naruto. After he found out that the Hokage was there he was a bundle of energy. The older group of men had a great time eating and reminiscing about their youth, and the children got treated to some war stories from the three men's combat days. It was during a lull in the conversation that Naruto decided to question the Hokage.

"So how long are you going to stay this time Jiji?" Naruto asked the elderly Hokage.

"Just a few days while Kenshi and I rehash a new treaty between Konoha and Japan. I'm sorry it couldn't be longer Naruto." Naruto looked a little down at this, but didn't say anything.

Sarutobi decided to brighten the blond boy's day up and said, "Naruto I have gifts for you." Pulling out the two cloth wrapped packages and handed them to the youngster.

Naruto spared no time opening the biggest present first, Inside was the biggest pair of cloth folding fans he had ever seen. Both fans were a foot and a half in length and made of iron, which gave it a dark sheen and weighted it down just a little. The ten ribs of the fan went all the way through the black cloth slips and exited to make ten bladed spikes at the very tip of the fan. Sarutobi explained that the fans were his mother's and that they had nine throwing spikes hidden within the folds ready to be unleashed.

Naruto's eyes grew big when Sarutobi explained about the spikes hidden in the cloth. And Sarutobi could just barely see the stars in the boy's eyes when he explained the return-to-sender seal, and wind amplification seal inscribed on the spikes, and cloth respectively. All-in-all it was a very giddy boy who opened the second smaller gift to see a length of red cloth with a metal plate. In the center held the swirl symbol of the Uzumaki-gakure.

After seeing the hitai-ate, Naruto demanded to know more about his mother. Sarutobi complied telling him about the rise and fall of Uzumaki-gakure, and the inevitable refuge of Uzumaki Kushina. He explained about how his mother would use her fans and recounted of how his father and her met together. But got more somber, when he explained how the Kyuubi attack had forced Kushina into an early pregnancy which ended in her death. Naruto stared at the headband for a long time before he felt strong enough to speak.

"Jiji?" Naruto asked the Hokage.

"Yes Naruto?" Sarutobi answered.

Naruto turned his eyes to the Hokage, they seemed on the verge of tears. "I want to honor my mother, but I don't think I'm ready to wear this headband. Do you think you could keep this until I am?" He asked with a pleading look in his eyes.

Sarutobi was touched at Naruto's heartfelt request and replied, "There would be nothing that I would feel honored to do more." Taking the red hitai-ate from his ceremoniously he continued, "Naruto, I swear on my honor as Sarutobi Hiruzen that I will return this hitai-ate to you when you are ready to wear it proudly." The Hokage finished with a solemn tone.

Naruto embraced the Hokage in a tight hug before turning to Misumi, who had been feeling a little left out of the whole thing, and saying, "Misumi! I want to give something that is dear to me to you." Misumi opened her mouth to protest, but Naruto stopped her with his next declaration, "Remember when you gave me the Yang Necklace and you took the Yin Necklace Misumi?"

Misumi answered cautiously, "Yes."

Naruto smiled, "I did some reading and doing that means that we have tied ourselves together for all time. No matter where you are, you will always have a piece of my Yin with you. Just like I'll always have a part of your yang with me always. I just want to give you something else." Taking one of the fans, he handed it to the blind girl, "Now as long as you have my moms fan, then I will always come back for it. And you promise that as long as you have my moms fan, you will always return it to me. Deal?"

Misumi smiled and nodded her head, "Deal!"

The grownups smiled at the adorable scene and looking in each others eyes, they knew. Right then at that moment, a bond was created. One of the ones that lasted throughout the ages. And that brought a chorus of laughter from each of them in turn.

* * *

**Japanese Words/Phrases:**

_Tsuchibue-_ Earthen flute. AKA an ocarina.

_Onigiri_- A rice ball normally stuffed with fruit, vegetables, or meat.

_Tomahagane-_ Special Japanese Steel.

_Sunobe-_ The initial crude outline of a katana before it is forged.

_Uzumaki-gakure-_ Village Hidden in the Whirlpool.

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**R&R PLZ**


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